


☬ Sightless Anathema ☬

by Hyperionova



Series: ANATHEMA [1]
Category: EXO, EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Fantasy, Incest, M/M, Royalty, Twincest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 21:53:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 53,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7286098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyperionova/pseuds/Hyperionova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The wondrous thing about falling in love is that you never know when and with whom you will. Two Princes, two brothers, two soul mates embark on an extraordinary journey and a mystical adventure on which they face brutal obstacles, find love, make unthinkable promises, confront betrayals and abandon hope. Jongin is the benign and gentle Prince of Servanya who wouldn't hurt a fly or wish harm upon even his enemies. Kai is a ruthless huntsman who belongs nowhere in the royal court even though he has royal blood running in his veins. Separated at birth, Kai and Jongin are brought up without the knowledge of them having a twin brother. Jongin is meant for great prosperity as the future King of the vast, powerful Kingdom of Servanya, while Kai is a rugged, penniless huntsman who knows the woods and mountains like the back of his hand, having lived there all his life, battling unimaginable villains and creatures. Kai has no moral codes, a complete rowdy of the woods, holds a contempt for the rich and Jongin is a pampered royalty who couldn't raise a sword to save his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ☬ F O R E W O R D ☬

Hexed by a macabre Mountain Beldam early in his childhood, a curse turns Jongin blind on his 18th birthday. To break the curse, the Queen summons the only hunter who could get Jongin to the cure. Her only problem is that the hunter is her own son who comes along with a string of roguish, unacceptable attitudes and rebellious ways. Upon learning about his the secret behind his birth, Kai decides to help his blind brother and their mother for a handsome amount of reward. Together with his group of huntsmen, he sets forth on a journey with his twin brother.

The only trammel is that the Queen has made Kai swear to never let Jongin know that they are brothers. There is going to be a whole cauldron bubbling with trouble when Jongin helplessly falls for the cold-hearted, merciless and barbaric huntsman without even knowing that Kai is his blood-brother with whom he has shared a womb—the most confined, intimate space in this entire world—with. Soon, lifting the curse off his blind brother is the last thing on Kai's agenda. He can either be selfish or he can give Jongin his sight back. He is caught in a mesh of lies and he is just as helpless, unable to push his brother away. Even if he could overlook their outward statuses, he cannot disregard the fact that their twin brothers, can he? He doesn't have any other way, but to break Jongin's heart at the expense of breaking his own.

 

 **Warning** : _THIS IS (TW)INCEST!!! There will be smut, there will be lots of taboos! So don't read if it isn't your cup of tea! I MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT BREAK YOUR HEART ALONG WITH JONGIN'S, SO BE WARNED!_


	2. Chapter 2

Once upon a time, in the mists of time when the stones are soft, where the woods are dark and lush, the soil is fresh and fertile, the kings and queens seek power, the old hags are witches, and the land is mystical, the prosperous Kingdom of Servanya is blessed with two beautiful princes. One of them is destined for great power and wealth, while the other is headed for a rough path, but they are both meant for remarkable adventures.

“Two years. He’s lost his sight for _two_ years. And not a single of you could bring forth a remedy!” the Queen cries out of painful frustration as she jolts up from her throne. Her ministers curl in fear before her. “If you could not find a cure, you could at least find that wretched Beldam!”

“Forgive us, Your Excellency,” says the minister in a quavering voice. “She resides in the Mountains of Delya. It is unfeasible to find her even if we tear down all of the mountains.”

The Queen understands their plight. There isn’t much to be done. Her son is cursed to be blind for the rest of his life and she has failed not only as a mother, but also as a queen. “There has to be a way.” She sinks back into her throne and inconveniently wipes the tear from the corner of her eye.

“Perhaps there is one, Your Majesty.” It is the porter who speaks much to her highness’ surprise.

“Who speaks?”

“It is I, Fawe, you’re majesty,” the porter says and steps forward. The guards block him when he enters the court.

“No, let him come forth.” The Queen orders her guards.

The porter bows before her. “I may have a solution for your anguish, Your Highness.”

The Queen looks daggers at him and straightens up in her seat. “How so, porter?”

“The Cascade of Signum, my Queen. Deep into the forest, far beyond the mountains. A dip in the water and all black magick can be undone.”

“The waterfall of miracles? It is nothing, but a myth,” spits one of the ministers disdainfully. “The porter is speaking hogwash for reward, Your Majesty. It’s said to wash away all curses and magick, but it does not exist.”

The Queen waves her finger at the minister to shut him up. “Porter, I have heard of the Cascade. No man has ever found it.”

“No man has ever found the _way_ , Your Highness,” the porter humbly says. “Nobody has been bold enough to venture the path. If anyone has, they had not lived to tell the tale.”

“Then how do you suggest we get my son to the Cascade, then?”

The porter swallows before continuing. “I may have come across a man who has been to the depths of the dark forest and has every path memorized as the lines on his palms. A Huntsman from the Wakening Village.”

The Queen feels a spark of hope ignited within her. “The Kingdom cannot be reigned by a blind King. If this is our only hope, so be it. Guards. Bring me the Huntsman the porter speaks of. Offer him anything he wills. Tell him the Queen has a deal to strike with him.”

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

“You sodding old bear crap! Have you seen your face recently?! You look like your wife’s old and wrinkled clunge, you bloody old sod!” Kai shrieks, kicking and knocking the table off as the pints tumble down, making a bigger mess.

“Kai, knock it off!” Yixing cries while he puts every last ounce of his strength to hold Kai back. Kris also has his arms tightened around Kai’s arm, but it isn’t enough to restrain him. Kai breaks free from their clutches and launches forward at the village pub’s owner who grabs the decorative sword from the wall. As soon as he turns the blade in Kai’s direction, Kai gives him a hard stomp in the man’s guts before snatching the sword effortlessly. He is better with a bow and arrow, but the Shikari has taught him enough to wield a sword with adroit prowess.

He points the tip of the blade at the shaking man’s throat. “Now, what was that about me being a by-blow bastard with no name for a father, eh?” he spits through his grit teeth as the man trembles with fear.

“Kai, that’s enough,” Kris groans, clasping a hand to Kai’s shoulder. “Leave the old shit be. He’s not worth it. Come on, mate.”

Kai grimly stares into the man’s eyes. He wants to end his life right there and then. But he drops the sword. There is already far too many black inks on his record and one of these days, he’s going to be hanged or decapitated. What can he say? He has a bad reputation.

“If I see you again, I will rip your tongue out and feed it to the piranhas.” With that, he turns on his heel and storms out of the pub.

“Wow, you’re a lousy pisshead. Sweet God, you just got us kicked out of the pub permanently,” Yixing whines as soon as they are on the boisterous streets of Wakening. “How would we get drinks and the women now, huh?”

Kris gives Kai a gentle and comforting pat on the back. “Quit thinking about  getting under skirts all the time, Yixing. And we wouldn’t stand for what the man said, Kai. But that is no reason to kill the fucking fool.”

Kai turns and fixes his friends, his brothers a scornful scowl. “I hate this village,” he hisses, clenching his hands into fists again. “And I give absolutely no damn for those arseholes.”

“I understand, Kai,” Kris says, smiling faintly. “We will stick by you no matter what.”

Heaving a deep sigh, Kai proceeds towards the cottage they share. He is quite sure that he has showered yesterday, and still, he is already covered in muck and grit, and god knows what he’s got on his face. He usually goes around with his face stained in mud or dirt and his hair is long enough at the front to curtain most of his eyes. Kris shaves Kai’s head at the sides and the nape, but he leaves the top and front a little long. His hair used to be dark. Then when he was fifteen, he accidentally swam in the Glatien River which turned his hair white as a punishment for staining the holy River with unspeakable deed (the River was being very dramatic, if you ask him. He only took a bath in it and apparently, his genitals are _unholy_ enough for the River to get upset at him and punish him—all because he dipped his buttocks in there. How dramatic, right?). It’s a little whitish-grey now due to all the soot and dirt he’s always covered in (the hair, not the buttocks). That is part of being poor and skint, isn’t it? This entire village is mired in poverty. Sometimes, Kai doesn’t know why he even bothers coming back to this village that he hates so much, which also loathes him in return.

He comes to abrupt halt when he feels the stomps of horse hooves on the ground. “What’s—”

“Royal guards.” Yixing answers his unfinished question as he gapes with his jaw fallen to the mud below them. Kai’s eyebrows knits into a frown.

“What on earth are they doing _here_?” Kris breathes out, looking just as astonished. The guards stop in the middle of the village. Kai, Kris and Yixing push past the gathered crowd to look at what’s going on.

The guards do not dismount their horses as one of them cries, “Which one of you scums is the infamous Huntsman?!”

“You’ve got to be more specific than that!” a villager squawks back. Kai swallows when most of the eyes turn to him.

“Kai! He goes by the name Kai!”

All right. Maybe he is going to be hanged or decapitated today. Both Kris and Yixing turn to face Kai with an awful dread etched in their expression.

“This good-for-nothing bastard is!” Kai doesn’t know who said that and shoved him forward, but he does nothing to retaliate. He looks up at the guard who jumps down from his stallion.

“Are you Kai? The Hunter?” he asks.

Kai tightens his jaw and gives a curt nod of his head. “All me,” he says, shrugging. “To what do I owe the pleasure, you poncy gits?”

The guard glares, baring his teeth momentarily. “The Queen has summoned you.”

For a moment, Kai blinks at the guard in disbelief. “Did she lose a rabbit in the woods which she needs me to find?” he scoffs.

“I believe it is more complicated than that. Do you wish to follow us on your own or should we drag your arse all the way to the Castle of Servanya?”

Kai stands still, unable to believe the guard. The Queen summons him? Why? “All right. I want no trouble,” he raises his palms in defeat. “I’ll go.”

* * *

 

(A/N) Hey, guys. First of all, thanks for reading, leaving comments/kudos and supporting Jongkai! Secondly, I recently wrote an article on cyberbullying (which I think many users on AFF should particularly read) and I think I kind of wrote about how difficult it was for me when I was bullied on AFF. So give it a read and leave nice/professional comments :) Thanks again. > <http://www.myeducation.my/news/51/Don't-Know-If-You-Are-A-Cyberbully?-Let%27s-Find-Out-In-5-steps/>

 


	3. Chapter 3

One moment you’re witnessing all the great wonders and opulence of the world. And the next you’re tossed into the realms of torturous, inescapable darkness. What does it feel like to be blind? It feels as though you have lost all your limbs. You’re lonely in the darkness and you’re scared, but you can’t do anything because you’re helpless. There are no escape routes. All that is left is a silver of hope.

Jongin feels the warmth of the sun on his face, flitting between the long eyelashes framing his sightless, cursed eyes. It must be a beautiful day. His hand gently clings onto the drapes of the window and he calms his quivering lips. He misses the sunlight the most. He moves away from the drapes and steps forward, taking slow steps. It has been two years and he still hasn’t gotten used to the darkness. He misses the light.

His heart flutters when he presses his palm to the glass of the window and feels the warmth radiating to the tips of his fingers. Every little touch, every soft sound has become more beautiful after he has lost his sight. He memorizes everything with the touch of his fingers. He might be a prince, he will be a king one day, but he resents all of it now. What wrong has he done? What sin has he committed to deserve such a cruel curse? He’s been locked up in his chamber for two years, two years since anyone but his mother and some of the chambermaids has seen him and every day that passes, he loses more and more hope. Would the Kingdom embrace a blind king?

He slides back and hides himself behind the drapes, perking his head a little to let the sun wash only half of his face. He hears the clatter of the silver tray. “I’m not hungry. Please, take it away,” he mutters, leaning his head into the drapes as he faces the sunrays. It doesn’t bother him much anymore. The blindness has become a part of him. But who would want a blind king? Who would love a sightless weakling?

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

Kai finds the situation killingly amusing. He refrains from chuckling as the guard ties his hands at the back with a rope. He really doesn’t think the rope or the puny restraint could hold him back if he is to fulminate against the royal guards, but it is entertaining to find that the guards are taking preventative measures. Words must have got around about him. The way to the castle has been bitterly long and Kai’s grumbling belly has not let him even enjoy the little trip to the rich parts of Servanya. The ride in the carriage has also been mercilessly bumpy.

However, when he reaches the castle, his eyes widen a little and his jaw falls slacking. These royalties are obviously wealthy enough to buy ten castles like this one, but they have completely neglected towns and befouled villages like Wakening. It irks Kai greatly.

The royal guards haul him through several Brobdingnagian doors, which reminds him of the East Hill Brobdingnagian giant that he, Kris and Yixing once ran from (in the manliest way possible). It was all a complete misunderstanding. Kai had not meant to steal the giant’s food (really, he thought the skinned lambs and muttons were just lying there) and he ended up running through the forest for an entire night, trying to hide from the giant. Great stories for the grandchildren he’ll have one day (not to mention it was a female giant—what a _sight_ it was when he ran under her, between her legs). He wanted to return the meat, but really, he just isn’t that righteous. And nor is he the most exemplary man.

Probably everyone knows that by now. Which begs the question why he is here in the first place. He is dragged into a hall-like room, full of gold, full of filthy riches. There are two fancy-schmancy chairs. Thrones. Blimey, he has never actually seen one in real life. It makes him wonder how much they would sell for. Maybe if he could find a way to loot them out of here. God, how rich are these royalties? And here he thought the local miser of Wakening is rich. Of course, Kai has stolen stuff from him, too. And has slept with his wife. And the wife’s sister. And has brawled with _her_ husband in a street carnival in the town of Talwiyar. Yep, he has great stories to tell his great-grandchildren, too.

The guards shove him down to his knees and Kai locks his jaw, planting his knees into the golden floor. “Kai, the infamous Huntsman of Wakening,” one of the guards chime. “The people say you’re a dick.”

Kai shrugs. “Well, they’re right.”

“From petty theft to murdering lords, you have done it all, haven’t you? You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“I really am,” Kai smirks, looking up to the guard. “Petty theft… What was I thinking, right?”

The guard thrusts his boot to Kai’s neck. “You think you’re so tough, don’t you, scum?” he spits, pulling Kai’s face up with his boot lifting Kai’s chin.

Kai smiles at the guard who responds with a scowl. “I must be. Otherwise you wouldn’t have tied my hands when there’s almost a hundred of you here—all girded with swords. What? You think I might jump Her Royal Highness and strangle the living daylights out of her? Or tickle her? I am _truly_ flattered you think I have bollocks big enough to do that.” He does.

That earns him a full-powered punch across the face. Kai scoffs and lets out a breath of laugh, licking the blood that trickles from the inside of his cheek. “You can be executed for just threatening the Queen’s life!”

“Leave him be,” says a graceful, feminine voice which carries into the room like a wind. Kai looks up and sees a couple of guards escorting the Queen in. Kai has never seen the Queen either, but he supposes that’s the Queen because he really can’t think of another person who’d be dressed in that fancy gown with that fancy hairstyle. God, Kai can’t remember when is the last time he has even washed his hair. His sooty, whitish-grey hair. The Queen doesn’t take her seat on the throne. Kai bows his head, not because he has to, but because he wants to. “You may rise.”

When he stands up, he sneers and smirks at the guard, cocking his eyebrows once before turning to face the Queen. His first instinct is to keep his gaze low. But Kai has the bad habit of staring into people’s eyes. Which once even scared off the street hag. She was an old woman who was trying to sell him a tonic. He might have stared at her a little too much that she gave him the tonic for free. No wonder some of the ladies ran away when he tried to take them to bed. Kris says he has the eyes of a typical arsehole.

What surprises Kai right now is that the Queen has the _same_ kind of eyes.

Only wider. She is almost gaping at him like the old woman who gawked at him when she saw him naked, freshly climbing out of the river after taking a dip (What can he say? He does have glorious _assets_ that leave the women _and_ some men traumatized—for a while at least, until they get used to the… size).

Kai tries to not to stare at her even though her dark eyes resemble his own. Bizarre. The Queen is a much more beautiful woman than the word on the street depicts. Neither the Queen nor her Prince has ever stepped into the dirty sides of Servanya. Not that Kai can blame them. The Queen looks like she bathes for half a day. Kai bathes once in half a year. He desperately wants to ask her why he’s here if he’s not being executed.

He swallows the lump that begin to rise in his throat. The Queen is still staring at him. Now, he understands how the people he stares at feel.

“What is your name?” the Queen asks after a moment, almost breathlessly.

Kai answers without hesitation. “It’s Kai… Your Highness.” The only time he has used _Your Highness_ is in bed when the women like it.

“Who… what… is your father’s name?” she still sounds a little out of breath.

“Don’t have one to say, Your Majesty.” Kai admits with a knife to the heart. He hates it whenever people mention his father.

The Queen pants in palpable agitation as her cheeks turn red. “Who raised you, then?”

Is this why she called him here? To investigate about his pauper background? In that case, she should sit down because Kai has strings of tales about him to tell her. “I was raised and trained by a Shikari.”

There isn’t a reply for a moment as the Queen stares at him with her lips parted. “Leave us,” she orders the guards who don’t move at once. “I said leave us! All of you!”

Is the Queen mad? Kai watches all the guards leave, even the servants. She really shouldn’t trust him this much, especially when she’s bedazzled in jewellery from head to toe. Kai isn’t a thief per se. But he isn’t picky when it comes to the source of the food he has to put on the table to keep him and his two good-for-nothing friends alive.

The Queen stands her ground as she keeps gaping at him. “You’re…” she starts, but trails off and Kai wants to groan. Can the woman seriously stop staring and say something?! “Where are you from?”

“I used to live in the Northside of the woods. I moved to Wakening Village when I was… younger than this.” He doesn’t want to talk about his history, but he probably shouldn’t lie to the Queen.

“This can’t be,” she breathes out and steps forward. Kai flinches back when the Queen raises her hands to touch his face. Bloody cow, has the Queen fallen for his manly charms, too? That is unlikely. She seems like a woman with elegance. “I can’t believe this.”

“Forgive me for my impudence, Your Highness,” Kai says. “But believe what exactly?”

The Queen touches his face anyway and aggressively shoves his hair out of his forehead. The Queen gasps and Kai almost gasps with her. He wants to shout in her face. What on earth is she doing?! “You are him!” she cries in a breath and retreats a couple of steps. Kai blinks at her.

“Lady, what’s wrong with you?”

Oh, God. Did he really just call her _lady_? Manners. Rotten manners.

The Queen glares at him for a moment. “What have you grown up to be?”

“Your Highness?”

“You are the Huntsman? Dear Lord,” she shakes her head with tears brimming in her dark eyes. “You look exactly… mostly like him.”

“Like… who?”

The Queen sits on her throne and buries her face in a hand. She even does that gracefully. Kai could not tell if she’s crying, but right now, he just wants to get out of there. Then when a moment has passed, the Queen raises her head. “I have a lot to tell you, Kai. But I do not have the time. My son—Jongin needs your help.”

Kai’s face falls sullen. “You want _me_ to help your son? Is he… lost in the woods? Kidnapped? Do you need me to kill someone, Your Majesty?”

“Oh, dear, no. I hope not at least,” she straightens up in her throne. “I cannot believe you turned out to be a… dirty rogue.”

Kai doesn’t get offended by her blatant description of his wondrous achievements and charming character. “Do you… know me?”

The Queen keeps mum for a long stretch of time, staring into him again. “I suppose it’s a good thing I did not look for you until now,” she says and Kai cocks an eyebrow at her. “I cannot bother with you for the time being. This is good. You will do this for your brother.”

“Kris or Yixing? What the hell did they do?”

The Queen rises from her throne. “Come with me. We have a lot to talk about.” She calls in the servants and has Kai escorted out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Life has served its purpose now. Kai can finally see what the point of living is. He doesn’t even know how to accurately describe the various exotic tastes that keep bursting in his mouth. His soul feels fulfilled. His mind seems to be relieved of all the stress. His heart feels complete. His stomach is will not grumble right after a meal for the first time in forever. The mussels are cooked, the meat isn’t red and raw, there is a variety of soup, and the trout doesn’t smell like the river. It smells like lemon, which Kai has only tasted once when he snatched the lemons from a fruiterer who tried to advise him on the ethics of living. She said, “If life gives you lemons,” and that was when Kai grabbed her lemons. The fruits, he means, not _her_ ‘lemons’. He tries to push away the futile thoughts as he ravages through the pineapple glazed salmon. He doesn’t use the silver cutlery and scavenges at the food with his bare hands—which he thinks disgusts the Queen because she’s grimacing scornfully at him. Well, tough. He doesn’t know how to properly use those intricate cutleries. He can wield a sword, work a bow and arrows, but his fingers aren’t dainty enough to hold a spoon. He is even sitting on a cushioned chair and the table is just as how he has imagined. Long, fancy, filled to the brim with sweet meats, creamy soups, buttery breads. He licks the tips of his fingers and reaches for the bowl of soup. He doesn’t care what kind of soup it is as he drains the bowl, pressing his lips to the curving edge of the bowl. The soup is warm in his belly and he reaches for the knob of butter. He doesn’t know why the butter is there, but he tosses it into his mouth. _God._ This is the smoothest, silkiest butter that he has ever tasted. It melts on his tongue before sliding under it, making his entire mouth water for more.

“When was the last time you’ve indulged yourself with food?” the Queen asks subtly, seated at the end of the table. She doesn’t look so disgusted now. She’s even smiling.

Kai licks his lips. “If this is what you call _food_ , then I suppose I’ve never eaten food, Your Majesty.” He lets out a soft chuckle, but the Queen’s face pulls into a guilty frown.

“Would you like anything else?” she offers, smiling again.

Kai wants to nod his head, but he doesn’t want to seem like a rude guest after pigging out in front of the Queen. He shakes his head. “I have a pretty cramped stomach. I don’t think I can fit anything in there anymore.”

“Is that so? It seems to me like you can still fit a goat in there.”

If Kai ever gets his hands on a full goat, he will thank the universe. But he doesn’t think the Queen is actually offering him a goat. “I’m fine, Your Highness. Thank you very much. I’ve never drunk such clean water.” He resumes to dig into the pineapple glazed salmon.

“Now, maybe you’d like to rest and perhaps, lave up?”

Kai stares at her, slowly munching on the buttered bread and salmon. The Queen summons him, orders all her guards and servants to leave, and then feeds him. Now, she wants to give him a bath? There is no better way to ask this, but, “Are you preparing me for a sacrificial ceremony?”

The Queen’s eyes pops out and she gapes at him for a moment. “Dear Lord, do you think I’m going to offer you as a sacrifice?!”

Kai shrugs despite himself. “It has happened before. I got caught in the Watergayte Woods once. The Watergayte tribe almost slit my throat to offer me as a sacrifice to their Gods.”

“My word. Why did they do that?”

Kai bites his lower lip, keeping his eyes on the platter. “I’m not sure you’d want to know the details, Your Highness.”

The Queen smirks. “I’ve heard many stories, Kai. Entertain me.”

“Well, I slept with the Chief’s daughter.” And son. At the same time. But he’d rather not include that part.

With an awkward expression, the Queen looks away. “How did you survive?”

“I escaped.”

“And how did you manage that?”

“My friends came to my rescue.” Kris and Yixing are always around to make sure Kai doesn’t end up killing himself.

“Who are these friends? Are they the ones you mentioned earlier?”

“Yes,” he sighs. “We’ve all been together, gone a lot of places together since I came to Wakening.”

The Queen seems to be considering what he has said for a while. Kai returns his focus to the food. Then after a moment, the doors open and Kai freezes when an aged man saunters in. His white beard reaches his chest and he is clad in a royal-like robe, too. He doesn’t spare Kai a glance as he bows before the Queen.

“Do sit, Gavin,” the Queen orders and the old man does as he’s told. He takes his seat directly across Kai and only then does he look up at Kai. “Kai, I have something to tell you. Something important.”

Kai blinks at the Queen and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Yes, Your Highness.”

The Queen doesn’t say a word for a stretch of moment, but she doesn’t seem too agitated. She glances up at Kai with a pair of dark eyes. Kai has been trying to avoid those eyes because it reminds him so much of his own. There are even the same gold specks in them. “A long, long time ago,” the Queen starts with a deep breath. “I was married.”

“To King Athelio.” Kai mutters and the Queen nods. The King died in a tragic war with the neighbouring Kingdom.

“Only a few moons before he met his end in the war, I…” she trails off, clenching her eyes shut. “I chanced on a Mountain Beldam who came to my garden. She had told me that the King will cross the great divide at the forthcoming war. She offered me a blessing. I accepted it with grief. I asked for a son who would conquer Kingdoms, who would annex lands, who would lead with great power and courage. She blessed me with the fertility to beget a prince who would do all that and more. In return, she cursed all of my other children, except the one she had blessed, to lose their sight on their 18th birthday. I implored her to not to, beseeched on my knees, but she had disappeared. I sent men to search for her high and low, but she was nowhere to be found. I had decided on having only one child, then. After the King had left, for moons, I was alone. I gave myself to the Commander of my garrison in a moment of vulnerability. I gave birth to his child on the same day the King passed in the war that was lost. What I had not foreseen was that I was conceived with two boys, twins. The Commander… he stole one of them away from me out of anger. They were his children, not the King’s. I looked for my firstborn everywhere, but I could not… find you. _You_ … are my son, Kai.”

The words ring in his ears and his blood run cold. Queens don’t fool with peasants, do they? The fine hairs on the back of his neck rise and a huge lump forms in Kai’s throat, choking him for a moment. He could not even hear himself think right now with his blood pounding in his ears. Is the Queen pulling his leg? He curls his hands into fists as the Queen earnestly looks at him with a saddened smile on her lips. Kai closes his eyes momentarily and looks up at the old man.

“Is _he_ my father?” he glares, pointing a finger at the old man whose eyes bulges out in an appalling shock.

“God, no!” the Queen yelps. “He’s my royal confidante in the court. He’s the only one who knows absolutely everything about me. Gavin, this is Kai.”

“Your Excellency, pardon my audacity, but are you sure this ruffian, this bovver boy is your lost prince?” the old man spits angrily and Kai could not concentrate on him. His head is still swimming in murderous confusion.

“He has my eyes. He has Jongin’s face beneath all that dirt, Gavin. I know who he is.” The Queen says firmly.

“His voice sounds nothing like Jongin’s.”

“He grew up in the scum, Gavin.”

Kai buries his face in his palms and tries to calm his breathing. “You’re telling me… I could have been eating this pineapple glazed fish all my life?” he asks breathlessly, raising his head. The Queen and Gavin look at him in a funny way.

“That’s your biggest concern, boy?” Gavin snorts.

“Okay, I have to go.” Kai jolts up from his seat and the Queen mimics him. She catches his arms and frowns miserably.

“This is fate. This is the destiny my sons are meant for. _You_ have to help your brother. You’re the only one who can do that!”

Kai’s hands are shaking. He clenches them and locks his jaw. “Your Majesty, I’m very sure you’re mistaken. I’m not a prince. I’m not _the_ Prince. Your confidante is right. I’m a bovver boy. I hunt, I eat wild hares, I fight lords in street duels and look at me! I’m probably the dirtiest thing you’ve ever touched.”

“I know my son!” she cries, shaking Kai by the arms. “I know you! You are meant to be our only hope!”

Kai’s head feels a little heavy and he sinks back into the chair. “I’m not a prince, Your Majesty. I have no royal blood running through my veins. This is a misunderstanding.”

“This is no misunderstanding. You are my son. My firstborn! And now, you are Jongin’s only hope. Kai, you can… stay here. We’ll find a way to have a place for you in the court. You can stay.”

Kai’s eyes narrow and he stares at the Queen. “But you don’t want me to.”

The Queen falls silent. Gavin speaks instead, “We’d rather not let the court know about the scandal. Even if you are her firstborn, you have absolutely no prospects of becoming a king. Prince Jongin is our future King. So you either do as Her Highness orders, or you will be forced to do so.”

Kai rolls his jaw, glowering at the man. “I once killed a boggart with a thread during a new moon. I won’t even need a thread to kill you, old man.”

Gavin purses his lips, but glares back at Kai.

“Kai,” the Queen exhales. “I’m willing to pay you whatever your heart desires. Anything at all.”

Kai understands that the Queen is not sentimental because she has found her son. She is still treating Kai as she would treat a hired bounty hunter. She is desperate and she wants Kai’s help. She isn’t speaking as his mother now, she’s speaking as the Prince’s mother.

“You are my son. But no one can know. No one at all,” says the Queen. “I called you here because I needed a Hunter to take my son to the Cascade of Signum.”

Kai scoffs, shaking his head. “That place doesn’t really exist.”

“It does and a well versed, qualified Hunter like you knows that,” Gavin says. Kai grinds his teeth. He knows the waterfall exists. It’s just impossible to find it. “We have a map.”

“Forget about it. It’s past the Watergayte Woods, Gremlin Hills, the Pythoness’ Lair and several other Hell-On-Earth.”

“Kai,” the Queen calls. “If you do this, you won’t have to strive for a single meal for the rest of your life. You will live comfortably with everything you’ve ever wanted.”

Kai blankly watches the Queen for a moment. It is an appealing deal. “Or I could just claim my title as the future King of Servanya.”

The Queen and her confidante exchange a dubious glare. “You will not do that,” Gavin says. “The moment you do that, I will make sure you and everyone you ever cared about are dead.”

“Gavin,” the Queen waves him off. “Kai, trust me. You do not want that sort of burden on your shoulders. Jongin will be King. Your brother will be King and you will make sure of that. Your reward will be hefty, I will promise you that.”

Kai doesn’t covet for the title anyway. He’d make a lousy king and he honestly isn’t righteous in any sense. “What do you want me to do?”

“You will bring Prince Jongin to the Cascade of Signum and bring him back safely. You can bring as many guards as you want,” Gavin elaborates. “If all the stories about you are true, all the monsters you’ve hunted down, all the faeries you’ve slayed, all the termagants you’ve slaughtered, you will be able to do this as easy as snapping your fingers.”

Kai let out a laugh. “Did anyone tell you guys about the part where I run away and hide and cry and scream and almost soil my pants?” he is kidding. He runs away only when they’re chasing them, but he never leaves without shooting an arrow or driving a sword through their hearts.

“Kai, we have no other choice. The word has that you are the best,” the Queen sighs. “Only you can help your brother now.”

Kai shakes his head and stands up. “He’s the future King, isn’t he? He can help himself. I’m not going on any more adventures.” He salutes the Queen with two fingers and starts for the door.

The Queen halts him with a hand raised to Kai’s chest. Kai stops and swallows. This woman is his mother. The _Queen_ is his mother. And yet, Kai could accept none of it. He is an orphan, raised by a Shikari, scraped from dirt and bins to survive. There is no way in Hell he is a prince. He doesn’t have a family. The only people he has to call his family are Yixing and Kris. Even if the Queen is his mother, she really doesn’t seem like she’s proud of what and who Kai is. No mother would want an ill-mannered rogue for a son, let alone a queen who already has a gallant prince to succeed her.

“Come with me. Please.” The Queen pleads and Kai’s taken aback. The Queen is begging? She really must be quite in a hassle. She withdraws her hand from Kai’s chest and ushers him to walk with her. Gavin follows behind them.

Kai’s already chapped lips turn drier as he walks with the Queen in the hallway. They ascend up a carpeted staircase. Kai looks down at his brown trousers and brown tunic which has been white when he first purloined it from a street merchant. Is the Queen bringing him to a tower to lock him up and threaten him until he agrees?

She stops before a door. Kai surveys the carvings on the door. They seem like the handwork of the Black Carvers of the Stygian Inselberg. Kai sold a gravestone he stole from Stygian Inselberg once. The Black Carvers would love Kai to pay for what he had stolen. “Don’t make a noise. Say nothing.” Gavin warns him as the guards open the door.

It is a chamber. The Queen gestures Kai to enter and he does. He doesn’t think even the Queen would be dauntless enough to lock a belligerent Hunter like him in a room. There is a servant standing patiently in the chamber. Kai’s eyes eventually fall on the boy in the corner who is sitting on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest.

“Mother?” he calls in a sweet, saccharine voice that sways the wind gently. Kai’s heart skips a beat when the boy rises to his feet.

“Yes, Jongin. It is I,” the Queen says. “I hear you refused to eat. Is something bothering you, Jongin?”

Kai’s jaw drops when he realizes the boy looks so much like him. He doesn’t have Kai’s rough edges or the look of having struggled all his life. He is graceful, beautiful, cultivated with love and nurture. His face is flawless and his skin is perfectly bronze, if not a little paler than Kai’s rough skin. There isn’t a blemish on the boy’s face. Kai has enough scars on his body to vouch for his deadly adventures. The boy’s hair is also beautifully black and his eyes are as black as his hair. His pupils are the lightest hue of grey. They look like a drop of snow in a lake of black. No doubt the doing of a curse. He’s a _boy_. He’s Kai’s twin brother and yet, he is still a boy and Kai is already a man. A man who has met Death and has spat on His face. This is the future King of Servanya? He looks like a kitten. The kindest one at that. How could that lanky arm even lift a sword?

“No, mother,” Jongin mutters and his nose adorably scrunches. “What is… that stench?”

Kai grits his teeth and turns on his heel to storm out of there. He stops in the hallway and pants a little. He shouldn’t care for him. He might be his brother, but the Queen—his mother has clearly pointed out that she doesn’t want Kai to stick around for too long. She doesn’t want him to be with her and his brother.

“Kai?” the Queen says his name and Kai turns around. He clenches his jaw and balls his hands into fists.

“All right. I’ll bring him. So long you keep your end of the bargain.”

The Queen smiles, but not in surprise. “Whatever you wish for.”

“I’ll ask what I want when we come back. No guards.”

“What?”

“Your poncy guards won’t survive a night. And I need to travel without attracting attention. So I will only bring along my two companions.”

“I cannot send my son with you without protection.”

“Trust me. You won’t be sending him any protection even if you send _all_ of your guards.”

The Queen frowns. “If he’s harmed—”

“That’s the risk you need to take. A blind King would be useless anyway. So you’re not risking much. This is your only option.”

Gavin doesn’t seem to protest either because he knows Kai speaks the truth. The Queen heaves a sigh and nods her head curtly. “Promise me you will safeguard him at all costs.”

“His life is my responsibility. You have my word. I won’t let any harm get to him for as long as I live.” Kai means every word. He might not be the most honourable man, but when he pledges as a Huntsman, he will keep the promise. “Give me the map. I need some weapons and other necessities. A horse for each of us.”

“The Prince doesn’t ride. He’s sightless,” Gavin says. “How about a carriage?”

Kai wants to groan. How is he supposed to take a blind boy across forests, mountains and dangerous waterbodies? Well, maybe he’s up for one last adventure. “I won’t be able to cross rivers with an entire carriage. He has to ride with one of us, then.” Maybe Yixing will do it.


	5. Chapter 5

“You cannot possibly be serious, Kai,” Kris groans for the fifth time, although he is already clad in his hunting garb. Yixing has his arms folded over his chest, silently judging Kai from afar. They have both been entirely dumbfounded ever since the royal guards brought them here. Whatever they thought the reason for the guards bringing them here was, they certainly hadn’t surmised what Kai has agreed to do for the Queen and her Prince. His mother and his brother, although he’s not allowed to tell anyone about it. However, Kai doubts Kris and Yixing will miss the striking resemblance Kai and the unblossomed Prince share. “This is suicide.”

“All of our hunts and adventures were suicide, Kris.” Kai snorts and tightens his boot’s laces before he shoots up to his feet. “Look. The Queen requested this. She wants _us_ to do it. And she’s going to pay us handsomely for it. We should be honoured.”

“Except that she wants us to go to the bloody Cascade of Signum, which all three of us know is impossible to find!” Yixing exclaims.

“Difficult, not impossible,” Kai corrects him, glancing the royal horse stable. The night sky is starless, but the moon is full and refulgent. It’ll be a treat, travelling through the woods tonight. The full moon attracts way too many night creatures and Kai wants to groan at himself for agreeing to do this. His friends are right in a way. It’ll be a miracle if he can take a blind prince to the waterfall of miracles and bring him back without losing a limb. Or losing the Prince. “Guys, we strike if we actually end up succeeding!” he says anyway to boost his companions’ faith.

“Your credence is stark mad, I tell you—mad as a March hare!” Kris yells and his voice carries into the thick night. Kai sighs, clasping his hands to his tall friend’s shoulders.

“Kris, I am not forcing you to come with me. If you don’t want to, you can leave. I’m doing this anyway.”

Both Yixing and Kris keep mum for a moment before they let out a loud breath in unison. Yixing walks over to Kai and puts a hand on the back of his shoulder. “When have we ever let you get yourself killed on your own, huh?” Yixing says, slapping the back of Kai’s head.

Kris rubs his temples and nods. “Fine. We’ll go with you, mate. Brothers till the end.”

“Yeah, speaking of brothers,” Kai drones with a sheepish expression. “I’m going to need you guys to play it cool and not to act out when you see the Prince.”

“Why?” Yixing asks.

“You’ll see. Promise you won’t do anything funny.”

After a moment, they agree.

They wait for perhaps an hour more and the moon is floating high above them in the inky sky. Kris and Yixing demand Kai for details of the journey and the meeting with the Queen. Kai leaves out some of the _important_ parts.

Then they see someone exiting the castle tower with a couple of men. Kai recognizes Gavin instantly and stands to his full height. Behind him, the servants are carrying some things heavy.

“Have you convinced your fellow boon companions?” Gavin asks and even under the moonlight, Kai could see his scathing scowl.

“Yes. They’ll go with me.”

With a nod, Gavin takes the wrapped stuff from the servants and hands them to Kai as the servants quickly mend their way into the stable. “The weapons you requested.”

Kai inspects the silver arrows. His mouth almost waters as he draws his thumb along the tip. “I won’t need the bow. I’ll use my own.” He points his Black Bow lying on the floor.

“The bow I offer you is personally made by the Black Stygians.” Gavin spits as if he is offended.

“I hate to admit it, but my bow is made from the black gold I stole from Shades of Gehenna. I’ve had it since I was fourteen. Nothing is stronger than that.”

Gavin doesn’t seem like he could argue with that, although he does seem a little appalled by the fact that Kai has just confessed he has stolen from the Shades of Gehenna, the fieriest Hell-On-Earth. “All right. The swords for you and your companions.”

Kris and Yixing are gaping at the sword they’re examining. Pure silver with Camunic incantations engraved to the fuller of the blade. Kai takes his sword and sheaths it at the sheath belt. It’s lighter than all the cheap blades he’s carried.

“And the steeds,” Gavin waves his hand to the servants who are yanking the reins of the most majestic horses Kai has ever seen, all bridled and ready. For a short moment, his jaw droops lax as he stares at the black horse. He thinks it’s glaring at him. “This is Nitidus,” Gavin says, patting one of the white horses. It prances a little and Yixing takes the reins of the horse, immediately grinning at the animal. The horse accepts Yixing almost instantly and he mounts it. “That’s Clarus,” Kai turns to see Kris already mounting the other white horse. Bastards, they took the nice and noble ones! Leaving Kai the black beast.

He looks to the black horse and swallows. “Can I ask for another horse?”

“This is Sylvaticus. Our fiercest war horse. I’m afraid you’ll have to take him. He is _fearless._ ”

That catches Kai’s attention immediately. He needs a horse that won’t be spooked by the most blood-curdling creatures or places. Licking his lips, Kai brings a hand to the beast’s forehead. The horse is tall, too tall, too big, too frightening. Kai could fall in love with it! “Well, we’re going to be best friends, Sylvaticus,” the horse blows ferociously and prances. Kai grabs his reins. “Whoa. And so that you know, we can’t be friends if you’re going to eat me.”

“You have enough food stocked in the satchels for a week.” Gavin says.

“A week? It’ll take way longer than that.” Kris says.

“You’re Hunters.”

“We’re the lousiest of boar and wild hare Hunters,” Yixing scoffs. “Looks like your Prince will have to eat roots and ferns with us.”

“We’ll handle it. We won’t starve your Prince.” Kai assures Gavin, stroking Sylvaticus’ shoulder. The horse seems to relax under his touch.

“Let me warn you. Should something happen to the Prince and _nothing_ happen to you, you will be hunted down and you will _all_ be punished in the worst possible way.” Gavin says and Kai turns around to face him.

“I have given my word. His safety is my responsibility.”

Gavin nods curtly and hands Kai a scroll. Kai unrolls it and realizes it’s a map. The map to the cascade. “Don’t let it fall into any untowardly hands.”

When Kai brings his head up, he sees the Queen stepping out of the tower with her son, the Prince clinging to her arm. Kai rolls the map up and stuffs into one of the satchels at Sylvaticus’ side. He stares at Jongin as the boy fumbles, following his mother with small steps. The moonlight paints streaks of his dark hair and his untouched coppery skin. His pink plush lower lip is glazed and quivering, although his eyes remain still like a stagnant water. He’s dressed in a hunting attire, but only much more elaborate and fancy than the ones Kai, Kris and Yixing are wearing. And much, much cleaner. Kai could smell the sage and lavender fragrance that is wrapped around Jongin’s body. Must be great being a prince. At the moment, Kai wonders if this is who he would have been if his wretched father never took him away and dumped him in the forest.

Jongin doesn’t seem happy. He has the face of a boy who pines for something. What can a prince possibly pine for? He has everything.

Kai doesn’t have anything and yet, he’s always been happy. Not satisfied, but happy.

“Jongin,” the Queen calls while her eyes wells up with tears. “You do as I’ve told you, do you understand?” she cups Jongin’s cheeks and that instant, Kai feels like he’s kicked. He wonders how it would feel to have his mother cup his face like that. But she’s a Queen and regardless of being her son, Kai’s a ruffian Hunter now. Kings and Queens usually have a lot of children, whom they care very less for. The parental instincts are often absent. “He will make sure you are well cared for.” she ironically tells Jongin.

Kai isn’t sure he wants to take care of his blind brother. Kris and Yixing are his brothers. He cannot accept Jongin as his brother. Not yet, at least. He’s only doing this for the reward.

“I am only doing this for your good. And for the good of the Kingdom. You understand this is very important.”

Jongin nods his head shyly. “I do, mother.”

“Remember everything that I’ve said.”

“I will, mother.”

He really sounds like a puppet. His voice is kind and gentle. Kai’s is just rough, gruff and throaty—which is a pleasure for the people he beds with, though.

“Take care of him. Return if you’ve lost all hope,” the Queen says to Kai who bows his head. “Here.” She holds Jongin’s hand out to Kai.

After staring at it briefly, Kai decides to take Jongin by the elbow. Perhaps his grip is too rough and hard, the Prince grimaces and gives a shocked look. “Pardon me, Your Majesty,” Kai mutters. “You’ll have to mount the horse.”

Jongin doesn’t say anything as the servants help him mount Sylvaticus. Kai holds onto his elbow until he’s settled on the beast. His hands searches for something to hold onto and Kai frowns a little. This Prince is spoiled and helpless, not fit to be a King. Not yet, he hopes. “Here.” He takes Jongin’s hand and the Prince furiously yanks it back, away from Kai’s touch and scowls in disgust. What the…

He looks up to Kris and Yixing who are gawking at Jongin. Yeah, of course beseeching them to play it cool means absolutely nothing to them. But at least they aren’t saying anything.

Kai clenches his jaw and faces the Queen and Gavin as Jongin clutches the horse’s mane. “We ought to leave soon. It’ll be a hassle to enter the forest at dawn with the singing jays.”

“Yes, we ought to.” Kris adds, a little out of breath.

Kai takes hold of Sylvaticus’ rein and mounts him in front of Jongin. He feels the Prince flinching before he scoots back. He holds his temper back and waits for the servant to fill the satchel with the arrows and bow. Once they are set, Kai bows his head one last time to the silently weeping Queen before reining the black horse towards the drawbridge.

As the horse gallops, Jongin lets out a small gasp and holds onto Kai’s tunic at the sides of his waist.

“You want to explain?” Yixing hisses, pointing at Jongin when they enter the woods. Kai presses his forefinger to his lips and shakes his head.

“We mean… do you… want to explain why we’re going this way?” Kris somehow subtly manages.

“It’s calmer at night,” Kai lies.

“Who else are here?” Jongin asks out of the blue and his breath grazes on the back of Kai’s neck, past the long hair covering his nape.

“They’re my friends. Kris, say hello.”

“Pleasure meeting you, My Prince.” Kris says shakily.

“And the other is Yixing.”

“Good… morning, Your Excellency.” Yixing blurts out nervously. They’re both making a funny face out of shock and Kai sniggers out a laugh. The forest is quiet and peaceful here. It always is when it’s close to an inhabited location. But God knows what adventure awaits them in the deeper parts. Sylvaticus is a graceful horse. It’s quite palpable to see nothing scares him as he proudly strides on the forest ground, carefully taking his steps over the roots. Kai strokes his sable black mane.

“How long is this journey?” the Prince asks after a while.

“Pretty long, Your Highness,” Kris answers. He looks really pleased with his horse, too. “You might want to settle in.”

“How long is pretty long?”

“Uh, we’re not really sure.”

“Several days,” Kai spits. “So you ought to get used to riding with us and perhaps don’t talk so much. It attracts wilds animals.”

“Several days?!” he rasps. “How long is several days?”

Kai keeps mum and the others don’t say anything either. He doesn’t know for sure. It might take weeks.

“Can you count?” Jongin asks in a whisper and Kai straightens up, turning his head around to glare at the blind Prince.

“Of course, I can count! I’m not a caveman!”

That surprises a laugh out of Jongin and Kai is a little taken aback. So the Prince laughs. “Do I have to ride with you for several days, then, Hunter?”

“Well, fuck. Too bad the high and mighty Prince has to ride with a dirty, smelly Huntsman. Maybe I will lean back and rub my dirt on Your Highness just to annoy you. Or maybe I will take my tunic off and tie it around Your Highness’ nose when we’re too far away for you to call for help. I’ve been wearing it for three moons without washing! Any more complaints, and I will have my underpants tied around your mouth. You don’t want to know how many moons I’ve been wearing _that_ without washing.”

That silences the Prince. He snaps his mouth shut and lowers his head. Kai rolls his eyes and looks ahead.

“Really charming, Kai,” Yixing scoffs. “You’re a real gentleman.”

“You’ll make into history, you know,” Kris laughs. “The Hunter who threatened the Prince with his stinky undies.”

Now that Kris and Yixing have said, Kai feels a little embarrassed. “You’re a dirty man.” He hears Jongin murmur under his breath as he releases Kai’s tunic and holds onto the saddle instead. “But you smell like the forest.”

“Where the bears shit!” Yixing cries and Kris burst into a laughter with him. Kai chuckles as well. He doesn’t know if the forest smells good to Jongin or not.

Kai pulls out the map and unrolls on. “So our first stop is the Gremlin Hills.”

“At least they have good fruits.” Kris says.

“They probably guard them with their lives now since we stole their deity’s food and ate it.” It was a hilarious experience. There’s this god-like exotic fruit, the Gremlins call it Awaska. They pray to it, offering it to their numen or daemon, Kai doesn’t know what the Gremlins really pray to. Kris, Kai and Yixing had once stolen their fruit of divinity and had eaten it, which obviously drove the Gremlins crazy. Let’s just say they don’t make many friends in these forests.

“You stole their deity’s food?” Jongin asks in a gasp. “You steal? Are you thieves?”

“Shh.” Kai shushes him when he hears the ruffling of leaves and branches.

“You cannot shush a royalty.” Yixing snaps. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. He isn’t the most mannered man in existence. He doesn’t even wash his hands before he eats. Or after he—”

“Seriously, shut up.” Kai hisses through his grit teeth and reins Sylvaticus to a stop. He glances to Kris who looks tensed, too. His hand is already at the hilt of his sword and Kai silently reaches for his bow and arrows.


	6. Chapter 6

Kris’ eyes are as wide and round as the moon. Kai keeps his eyes on Kris, but the rest of his senses are focused on the ruffling noise. Kai readies his bow and arrow while Yixing draws his sword out. The horses stand steady with their hooves planted into the loam. Kai shifts his aim at once when he locates the source of the subtle noise.

“Blimey,” Yixing whispers very faintly. Kai’s eyes widens when they land on the beautiful creature cached behind the trees. “It’s a Scarlet Stag.”

“Oh, my God. It’ll sell for gold pieces, Kai.” Kris breathes out on the other side of Kai. The deer has his head held up right as he watches them. The moonlight illuminates the stag’s black eyes and the ivory streak on his forehead. His branched horns form an august pair of antlers. He’s breathtakingly majestic and he’s looking directly at Jongin. Never has Kai seen a stag stopping to look at a traveller. Kai stretches the bowstring of his bow, targeting the deer. The stag doesn’t move. He lifts his head higher and then he bows it, as though bowing to respect the Prince.

Sylvaticus prances a little under Kai and blows through his nose. Then Kai feels a warm hand touch his shoulder. “Are you going to kill the stag?” Jongin asks in a whisper. Kai scowls, but he wavers. Jongin’s slender fingers on his shoulder are incredibly distracting. “Please. Don’t kill him.” His breath grazes the back of Jongin’s ear. Kai has hunted down an impressive number of stags before, but for the first time, he doesn’t want to. He lowers his bow and arrow, and perhaps after feeling the muscles on his shoulder relax, Jongin retrieves his hand. The stag gallops away, causing the ground to rumble and within seconds, he disappears. Kai clenches his eyes shut for a moment, evening his breathing. When he opens them again, he is met with Kris and Yixing’s appalled expressions. They look like they’ve seen a ghost, but mostly, they look mad and confused. Furiously confused.

“What on fiddlesticks, Kai?!” Yixing yelps. “You let him go! You should have shot him!”

Kai shrugs, resettling his bow and arrow in the satchel before gripping Sylvaticus’ reins again. The black steed struts forward and its white companions follow.

“You’re barking mad! Do you know much those antlers would have gone out for?!” Kris cries on the other hand.

“You should have killed it!” Yixing screeches.

“Well, His Highness said I should not kill it.” Kai spits at Yixing who immediately quiets down as he gapes at Jongin instead.

Then after a moment, he says, “He’s right, Kai! You should not kill it!”

Kai glances to Yixing with an astonished scowl.

“Yes, Kai. What were you thinking?” Kris snorts. “How could you _want_ to kill that beautiful stag?! You need to stop.”

Kai wants to hurl a rock at them both. “Way to sell me out here, guys.” He rolls his eyes and drops his gaze to the map. He could barely read it even under the thick moonlight.

“We’re really sorry, Your Highness,” Kris says. “We never would have let him do it.”

Kai could hear and feel Jongin’s breathy chuckle. “Kris, Yixing. What do you do for a living?” he asks. Oh, so he only doesn’t care about Kai.

“We’re all Hunters, Your Majesty,” Yixing says. “All rough and tumble, you see.” He stops immediately and grimaces. “No, I don’t mean you _see_ see. Not what I meant. I know you cannot see. It’s a figure of speech. I don’t want you to see per se. No! No! That came out wrong. It’s not that I don’t want you to see! I do! I do!”

“Shut your mouth, Yixing,” Kris rasps and Yixing obliges with reddened cheeks. “I’m sorry you’re accompanied by a couple of idiots, My Prince. But I can vouch, we’re the three bravest, most honourable men you’d ever come across.”

“Oh,” Jongin chimes and Kai shudders when Jongin grips onto his tunic at the sides again. “When is third _man_ arriving?”

That surprised a laughter out of both Yixing and Kris as Kai clenches his jaw. “So it speaks _and_ it knows wit.” Kai murmurs, rolling the map again.

“What? You thought I was some serious, to the grave kind of Prince? You seem like a jolly lot. No point in patronizing rowdy Hunters like yourself in the forest, anyway.”

Kai sneers. “You’ve got that right, Your Highness.”

“What? You don’t think I’m a jolly man? I can banter, too.”

A man? Does Jongin consider himself a man? He’s nothing but a boy. Kai deliberately laughs out loud, scaring a couple of jays from the trees. He feels Jongin’s grip tightening around his tunic.

“What’s so amusing?” the irritation is palpable in his strained tone.

“That was funniest banter, Your Majesty. I couldn’t help, but laugh.”

Jongin falls silent from there onwards.

Yixing shakes his head in disappointment when Kai looks to him. Kris does the same. Kai knows they’re aching to know more about how Jongin shares his resemblance, but right now, they just seem like they take pity for the Prince.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

The dawn comes with songs from the birds, chimes from the wind and bristles from the leaves and branches. His soul feasts on the melody, his heart beats like the veins of the forest. Kai’s eyes falls heavy by ever stride Sylvaticus takes. The sky looks soft with its blue blanket and streaks of white clouds. Kai doesn’t recall when he last had a decent sleep.

They are quite far away now, but nowhere near the heart of the forest. A few more acres and they’ll reach the Gremlin Hills. Kai plans to pass by without alerting the Gremlins, but he knows that wouldn’t be so easy. He looks up to Kris and Yixing. They seem just as sleepy. Nothing can wear them out easily, but they also need to sleep like every other human being.

Speaking of a sleeping human being, Kai doesn’t exactly know when Jongin has fallen asleep, but he knows when Jongin has surrendered and leaned his head on Kai’s back. It has been hours since Kai has been supporting Jongin’s entire weight on his back as the Prince sleeps with his head and the side of his face comfortably nestled into Kai’s back. He has also curled his arms around Kai’s waist and although they aren’t hugging him, the arms are still snaked around his waist. Yixing and Kris have been giving Kai the judging stink eye ever since the Prince has fallen asleep against Kai’s back. It isn’t every day Kai has a Prince hugging him from behind while he sleeps soundly.

When Jongin is sleeping, he’s much more tolerable.

“My back is killing me. I need to sleep. And he needs to rest.” Yixing whines, stroking Nitidus’ ivory mane.

“We’ll veg out by the river.” Kai says, jerking his chin ahead. The sound of river’s current can be heard even from here. And maybe he’ll take a bath. _Not_ because he cares about what his brother thinks about him. Definitely not because of giving the Prince some comfort of travelling with him. Nope. Definitely not.

Just when they reach the river, Jongin stirs and his arms tighten around Kai. With his eyes bulging out, Kai remains silent and Jongin moans and rubs his forehead on Kai’s shoulder blade. “Lucky bastard.” Kris hisses under his breath, shaking his head.

“I’ve always been a lucky bastard, Kris.” Kai says, smirking at him.

Jongin straightens up at once and recoils, withdrawing his arms from Kai’s waist. “Oh, my. I’m so sorry.” His sleepy voice strikes Kai dumb for a moment.

“It’s all right, Your Highness!” Yixing calls out. “Good morning. You can sleep on any of us and it’s all right!”

“Too desperate, even for you, Yixing,” Kris scoffs as he dismounts his horse. “Sleep okay, Your Majesty?”

Kai scowls at Kris. _Sleep okay?_ The goddamn boy was leaning on his back for hours! Kris is asking if _he_ slept okay?!

“I did,” Jongin chimes. “What is that noise?”

“It’s the river, Your Highness.”

“You can call me Jongin.” Oh? Spectacular. Kai’s face pulls even longer as Yixing rushes to help Jongin.

“May I help you off the horse, Jongin?” Yixing offers.

“Of course. Thank you, Yixing.” Jongin holds a hand out and Yixing takes it. Kris hurries to Yixing’s side and accept Jongin’s other hand. For bloody fuck’s sake! Kai dismounts Sylvaticus with a jump while Jongin gracefully climbs down. Kai scowls at them as he cards his fingers through Sylvaticus’ thick mane.

“Blimey, I can’t hold your hand. I shouldn’t!” Yixing yaps, laughing sheepishly.

“Then stop.” Kai snorts, brushing the mane. Yixing glares at him and makes an aggressive expression.

“Want something to eat, boy?” Kai mutters.

“I beg your pardon?” Jongin pulls his hands back and turns to face Kai, although his sightless eyes are looking over Kai’s shoulders. “I never gave you any authorization to call me _boy_. And you’re asking me if I want to eat as though I’m a—”

“I was asking the horse,” Kai spits and Jongin purses his lips.

“Oh…”

“I’m going to go look for some fruits for the horses.” Yixing says and excuses himself.

Kris claps a hand to Kai’s shoulder. “Ease up, mate,” he whispers. “We need to talk.”

Kai sighs. “Later.”

Kris nods and pulls the reins of the horses towards the river. “I’m thirsty.” Jongin says and Kai looks to him with an arched brow.

“The river’s right there. You’re going to need to drink it like the horses, Your Majesty.”

Jongin frowns, but he doesn’t wait for Kai to take him to the river and slowly walks over to the riverbank by himself. Kai exhales a sigh and rubs his temples. Kris ties the reins of the horses to a tree and points at the front of his pants before pointing at the forest. Kai nods his head and Kris disappears into the woods.

Jongin stops at the edge of the bank and hesitates for a moment, but eventually drops to his knees. Kai groans and walks up to him. “You cannot drink from there. It’s filled with dirt and muck.”

Jongin rises back to his feet. “Where should I drink from, then?”

Kai rolls his eyes and throws his head back, making a low guttural sound. “A little further.”

“A little further into the river?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I… But…”

Kai waits for the Prince, but the latter seems concerned about something. “What is it?”

“My boots will get wet.”

“So? Take ‘em off.”

Jongin does. He unlaces his boots and takes them off before rolling his pants up to his knees. He holds his hand out, extending an arm and Kai stares at it. He’s waiting for Kai to take it and guide him. Kai sighs.

“Why don’t you wait here?” he says and runs into the forest. He finds a bunch of Bull Bay leaves and plucks a couple before jogging back to the river. Jongin is still obediently waiting. Kai twists and shapes the leaves into cups, and drags himself to the middle of the river. After cupping some water into the leaves he returns to Jongin. “Here,” he holds the leaf cups out. “There’s water in these leaves.”

Jongin carefully raises both hands, cupped and holds the leaf cup. He generously drains the water from both the leaf cups. “Thank you.” he says, smiling the most genuine smile Kai has ever seen. There are specks of gold in Jongin’s black eyes. In the subtle morning sunlight, Jongin’s skin looks supple and his rosy lips are full, still glistening from the water he has just swallowed. His eyelashes are beautifully long and the way he scrunches his nose makes him look more innocent than he already is. If he could look at Kai, he’d laugh. Kai is everything Jongin isn’t. No one would even believe they’re twins. “Is your name… Kai?” Jongin asks, snapping Kai back to reality.

“Yeah,” Kai tosses the leaves to the river and scratches the back of his head. He feels a little ashamed when his fingers get tangled in his messy, rough hair strands. “It’s Kai.”

The corners of Jongin’s lips curl up. He’s smiling. And he doesn’t look anything like Kai. He looks pleasant, he looks like a human. Maybe it is a good thing Jongin can’t see Kai. He’d be disgusted to see an aggressive ruffian like him. “Are you from Wakening Village?”

“Yes.”

“Do you, Kris, Yixing have families?”

“We’re our own family.” Kai smiles and walks past Jongin.

“You have no parents?”

“Nope,” he yanks out a bundled food from the Clarus’ satchel and pats the white horse’s shoulder. “Well, Kris and Yixing had theirs when they were young. Kris’ died in the plague and Yixing’s mother died when he was born, his father died in the war.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Kai turns around and walks back to him. “You know. For a prince, you sure do apologize a lot.”

Jongin smiles. “I’m a human before I’m a prince.”

“Uh-huh. Is that why you cringed when I touched your hand last night?” Kai scoffs and Jongin’s smile falters.

“What? Dear Lord, no. Your hand is rough. It’s like a blade.” He looks flushed.

“Oh,” Kai feels like an idiot suddenly. Of course. Jongin’s hand does feel like he hasn’t touched a single hard stuff in forever. “Well, in that case, I apologize. Too soon for me to jump into conclusion. Here’s your breakfast, Your Highness. I need to go take a leak.”

Jongin accepts the bundle. “Should I wait here?”

“Yes.” Kai is already walking towards the trees.

“All right.”


	7. Chapter 7

Kai rouses to the subtle shrieks of the jays. Although he’s awake, he neither moves nor opens his eyes. Twigs are prodding into his back and legs, the decrepit mossy log is an uncomfortable, but a preferable bolster under his head, and the ferns are curling over a boot. Kai huffs out a heavy breath through his nostrils while keeping his arm draped over his eyes. He could only block the sunlight from his sight, but the rays are scorching the rest of his body. It must be pretty late in the morning. They best be moving now, otherwise they won’t reach the Gremlin Hills before evenfall. The thought exhausts Kai even more. He loves riding… (Horses. Not the other kind of riding, although he doesn’t mind it when he’s the one being ridden. Who is he kidding—he bloody lives for it.) He loves hunting. He loves adventures. He loves spending every waking moment with his brothers, Kris and Yixing. He loves the fact that the three of them are off on another adventure, the best one yet, because they’re looking for a never-before-found waterfall. He should love all of this. Except that he doesn’t. He’s a prince. The lost firstborn of Servanya. And yet, he can’t claim the title, he can’t even _think_ that he’s the Prince because the Queen has ordered him not to. Kai doesn’t _want_ to be a prince. He likes life as it is, although there is room for some improvement. What bothers him is how nonchalant the Queen, his _mother_ is. She only loves Jongin and even though Kai is her son, the rightful heir to the throne, she sees him as incapable. Well, Kai _is_ incapable of becoming a King—he doesn’t even want to. It’s just that Kai has found his family and he can’t do anything about it. He isn’t allowed to do anything about it.

And then there’s Jongin. His _brother._ What happens when Jongin gets his sight back and realizes he has a twin brother? Kai sighs, wishing for unconsciousness to draw him back. That’s another problem because Kai is never really unconscious. Even when he’s sleeping, his senses are always awake, at the ready. He knows everything that goes around him. For instance, like how Jongin has been trying for hours to get closer to the horses like a shy gentleman picking up a lady at the bar on a Celtic Night. And Jongin could not stay still for a single minute without making a ruffle or a splash. Kai even thought about wandering away into the woods to catch some decent sleep, but decided against it because leaving the helpless blind Prince in the middle of the forest might not be the best of ideas.

Kai pulls his arm off his face and cracks an eye open. He squints at the bright azure sky. He’s hugging the map to his chest. He must have dozed off while going through the map. He sits up and rolls the map before stretching his arms over his head. He looks around, running a hand through his tousled hair. Kris and Yixing are snoring a few feet away from him. Yixing has his head nestled in Kris’ arm and Kris’ legs are sprawled over Yixing’s. Kai envies them sometimes. They always sleep like the world means nothing to them. Kai doesn’t can never achieve that tranquillity or oblivion. Yixing’s probably drooling into the sleeve of Kris’ tunic.

He thinks about hurling a rock or a pebble at them to wake them up, but he is instantly distracted by Jongin who is standing confusedly by the bank with his eyes blankly staring in the horses’ direction. Clarus and Sylvaticus are still resting on the ground, but Nitidus is all up and ready, earnestly watching Jongin’s every hesitant move.

Kai tilts his head a little and watches Jongin along with the ivory-white horse. Jongin is standing there, reluctant and iffy as if he’s on the horns of a dilemma whether or not to go closer to the horse. He knows the horses are tied to the tree before him. It’s like he wants to touch them. His face is red like his cheeks have been sunburned. Kai stands to his feet and brushes the twigs and leaves sticking to his beck and calves.

Jongin flinches at the sudden noise. Kai walks over to him. “What are you doing, Your Majesty?” he asks, replacing the scrolled map into Sylvaticus’ satchel. He doesn’t like calling Jongin _Your Majesty_. Not because Jongin is his brother, but because Kai doesn’t like calling anybody that. However, it feels right, like he’s _supposed_ to call Jongin with respect.

“Did I wake you up? I’m sorry.”

Kai straightens up and smirks a little, knowing that the Prince can’t see his smug smile. “No, I was already up. We have to get going,” he glances back to Yixing and Kris who are snoring with their mouths gaping open. Kai fights the itch to find a bark roach and slip the bug into their mouths. He’s done it before. In fact, Kris and Yixing have done worse to him when he’s been sleeping. “As soon as I wake them up,” he sighs and returns his attention to the frowning Prince. “Did you sleep?”

“No, but Kris told me you were sleeping, so I didn’t make any noise.” There’s a hint of smile on his plush lips. Kai looks away. Nitidus nudges his nose into Kai’s back and neighs subtly. Jongin giggles quietly when he hears the neigh. Kai looks to him in surprise while patting Nitidus’ forehead. “Is he yours?”

“Well, he’s _yours_ , actually. All of them are.”

Jongin blushes and even his bronze skin could not hide the crimson on his cheeks. “I mean is he the one we’re riding?”

“No, he’s being a lazy one at the moment,” he looks down at the black beast. Sylvaticus is gazing ahead with an arrogant expression as if to deliberately ignore Kai’s existence. “I should saddle them up.”

“I like them a lot,” Jongin says, smiling to himself. Kai licks his lips. “Mother never let me ride one after my birthday. Well, I didn’t ride much before that either, but I like them.”

“You like… horses?”

“Yes. Don’t you?”

“Uh… Not as much as I like seabass and buffalo meat, to be honest.”

Jongin doesn’t get that joke and he looks confused. Kai doesn’t explain it.

“Um… Do you… want to touch him?”

Jongin’s eyes widen. He’s looking somewhere Kai isn’t, but that’s okay. Everything about Jongin is okay. Maybe he’ll even accept Kai when he finds out he has shared a womb with this dirty bastard. “Can I?”

“Sure. I think this one’s nicer. His name is Nitidus,” Kai strokes the forehead, smiling at the steed. “Scintillating.”

Jongin takes a step closer and raises a hand to the air. Kai hesitates for a moment and grasps the hilt of his sword, but when he notices how excited and happy Jongin is, and how _beautiful_ he looks when he’s happy, he carefully wraps his craggy, weather-beaten hand around Jongin’s wrist. He purses his lips shut when his heart skips a furious beat as Jongin winces. Kai didn’t notice it before, but after Jongin has mentioned it, he realizes how smooth and velvety Jongin’s skin feel against his coarse, scratchy palm and fingers. There must be at least a hundred blisters on that hand. A million scars. One time, he had both of his hands burnt that Yixing had to feed food him for an entire week. He might have the same blood running through his veins, but he isn’t his place to touch the Prince without permission.

“Sorry,” Kai mutters and retrieves his hand.

“No, it’s okay,” Jongin rasps immediately. “It’s okay, Kai.” He holds his hand out and Kai gnaws on his lower lip before curling his hand around Jongin’s wrist again and brings his hand to Nitidus’ majestic white mane. Jongin clutches to it like a baby clutching to its mother’s finger for the first time. Jongin’s lips quirks up and there’s a faint smile lurking about their corners. It’s pleasant to look at. It’s a sort of pleasantness that Kai has never seen before.

“Don’t clench. It’s uncomfortable for him,” he mutters under his breath and his hand moves up from Jongin’s wrist to the back of his hand. Jongin stills as Nitidus shifts. Kai slides his fingers between Jongin’s slender ones. “Stroke it. Not so gently. Not too harshly either.”

When Jongin balls his hand into a fist around the silky mane, Kai wraps his hand around Jongin’s, lacing their fingers together. Kai memorizes the back of Jongin’s hand.

“Thank you,” Jongin says in a hushed tone. Kai wants to clench his hand harder, but he swallows instead. “For not killing that deer.” He leans into the horse and presses a side of his head to Nitidus’ shoulder. His fingers are shivering between Kai’s. The wind whispers quietly and the ambience falls along with the sunlight. How can something as simple as a horse make a Prince this happy? “I can hear his heartbeat.” Jongin murmurs, running his fingers through the horse’s mane with Kai’s hand stroking above his. Kai withdraws his hand and steps back, clearing his throat. What the hell was he doing?

Jongin looks too happy to be flustered. Kai shakes his head and grips the hilt of the sword before marching over to Yixing and Kris. With just a kick on Yixing’s knee, the man shoots up in a frenzy.

“What died?! What died?!” he screams and Kris jolts upright.

“Do that again and you will,” Kris spits in a hoarse voice, shoving Yixing away, kicks Yixing’s legs off him and squints up at Kai. “Where’s the Prince?!” he gasps.

“Whoa, will you two calm down? Your precious Prince is fine. He’s cuddling with the horse back there,” Kai rolls his eyes and lends a hand to Kris to help the man up to his feet. “We have to leave.”

Kris’ tunic sleeve is soaked with Yixing’s saliva, leaving a dark patch on the blue fabric, but Kris hasn’t noticed. He yawns and nods his head, starting towards the horses. Yixing scratches his head with both of his hands and stands up. “Is he your doppelgänger?” Yixing hisses in a sharp whisper.

“No,” Kai shakes his head. “I’ll tell you guys all about it, okay? Just not now. Come on.”

They saddle the horses again. Kai glances to Jongin who’s waiting to be helped onto the horse. Then with a subtle smile, Kai approaches the Prince. “Your—”

“Jongin! Would you like to ride with me?!” Yixing exclaims.

“Or His Highness could ride with _me._ I am a better rider than you.” Kris cuts in.

“I don’t doubt it, Kris. You ride like a beast!” Yixing snorts and laughs. Jongin blushes, although he’s smiling.

“Ha ha.” Kris rolls his eyes.

Yixing helps the Prince to mount Nitidus before he takes the spot behind Jongin. Kai ignores them as Yixing playfully lets Jongin take the reins. Good riddance, Kai thinks and mounts Sylvaticus. He doesn’t need Jongin to ride with him. This is good. Of course, he’d kill Yixing if something happens to Jongin, but he doesn’t really care. He doesn’t care!

“Now, we just have to go east of this river?” Kris asks since he knows the path to the Gremlin Hills all too well.

“Yeah,” Kai sighs and tries to not to glare at Yixing and Jongin giggling as they meddle with Nitidus’ reins. “East.”

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

He might have been overenthusiastic about reaching the Gremlin Hills before night. The sky has turned inky, like the flowing river of Stygian Inselberg, dotted with glimmering stars. The hairs on the back of Kai’s neck rise and his heart pounds. They have stepped into the grounds of the Gremlins.

“Put out the torch,” he whispers to Kris who obeys at once. When the fire dies, Kai feels at a little ease. They continue through the dark woods, wending their way up the steep hill. Kai constantly keeps his eyes on Jongin, which is unnecessary because he is riding with Yixing and Yixing is one of the most adroit Hunters Kai knows and he only knows three. They’re all here. Jongin is safer in Yixing’s hands than he will ever be in Kai’s. His friends are a better protector for Jongin than all those hoity-toity royal guards.

Just when Sylvaticus prances and violently grunts under Kai, Kris draws his sword out. Alarmed, Kai readies his bow and arrow. Kris pulls Clarus to a halt and jumps off the horse. Kai and Yixing halt their own horses, but don’t dismount. “What is it?” Kai mouths, but he doubts Kris could see it in the darkness.

Then Kai hears it, too. The faint singing. His eyebrows furrows together and his eyes narrows as he hauls the bowstring back, hand tightening around the bow’s grip. His fingers are steady at the fletching of the arrow as he aims into the darkness.

“Fuck.” Kris breaths out as his jaw falls slacking. The singing becomes louder by the second and soon, it’s not a song, it’s a cry. A war cry.

Kai dismounts Sylvaticus and joins Kris as Yixing steadies Nitidus.

Everything that happens next happens in the blink of an eye. A rope swings and rounds Kai and Kris together before another rope swings around their legs. Kai drops his bow and they tumble to the ground with Kris’ blade almost slicing into Kai’s waist. “Yixing, go! Fucking get out of here!” Kris orders while he struggles along with Kai who’s groaning, trying to dodge Kris’ sword from cutting him. They’re tied together, chest to chest, dick to dick. Fuck. The Gremlins’ war cry draws closer as their fire torches appear in sight.

The next thing Kai sees is Nitidus crashing the ground along with Yixing and Jongin. Gremlins hurl ropes at Jongin and Yixing that bound their arms and legs together. “Kris, your sword!” Kai yelps and Kris lets go of the blade. Kai desperately looks around him. The short, podgy, dead-green creatures with their pointy ears and sharp teeth surround them, wailing a deafening song of victory.

“This is going to be a bloody long night.” Kai sighs tiredly and rests his forehead into Kris’ collarbones.


	8. Chapter 8

“This is like Watergayte all over again,” Kai groans, wrapping his arms around Kris’ body for support as they stand, leaning against the tree. The Gremlins are wailing, screeching, thinking that they’re singing as they cavort, frantically dancing around a bonfire. Kai feels as though his ears might bleed as he watches the little grey-green creatures, which are covered in moss and scions calling to their deity. There’s a heap of fruits in the corner. Yixing and Jongin are bound to a tree far from the one Kris and Kai are tied to.

Kris laughs despite the fact they’re about to become the Gremlins’ dinner. “You and I remember Watergayte very differently, Kai.” He’s right. The Watergayte tribe has been hospitable and has welcomed Kai, Kris and Yixing to its homes. They were nice until Kai slept with the Chief’s son and daughter. Kris’ chin is charged against the top of Kai’s head. The Gremlins have really outdone themselves this time. Kai’s wrists are rope-tied at Kris’ back while Kris’ hands are bound behind Kai’s back. It looks and _feels_ like they’re hugging, and it might have been comfortable if only they both weren’t tied to a tree. Right now, Kai is trying to reach for the dagger Kris has slid in the back of his boot, but it’s almost impossible with the Gremlins watching them with their short stone spears pointing to Kai and Kris’ butts.

“We have to do something. I don’t want to be Gremlin buffet tonight.” Kai whispers and Kris furiously nods.

“Let’s not forget we can’t let the Prince become a buffet either. Otherwise, we’re good as dead.”

Kai frowns and looks to Yixing. Jongin has his arms around Yixing as Yixing as his around Jongin. Yixing doesn’t seem so intimidated, although he is perturbed. But Jongin looks downright petrified. His face is shifting in all directions. He’s agitated, he’s frightened. “We have to do something,” Kai mutters again.

“Think you can reach for my dagger again? Without grabbing my butt this time?”

Kai rolls his eyes. “Mind you, I don’t covet for your perky arse. I’ve seen, touched and tasted better, _perkier_.”

“Ugh, gross. Spare me the details. You’re a pig,” Kris grunts.

“Yeah. That’s what _they_ say, too.”

Kris scowls in disgust. “For crying out loud, how did we let ourselves get caught by these bloody numpties?!”

“We could have run. But His Royal Highness’ can’t.”

“Speaking of His Royal Highness’, mind explaining?”

Kai meets Kris’ eyes. The fire’s yellow speckles swim in those dark pools. “Okay,” he sighs and bends a little, bumping knees with Kris as he tries to get his hand on the dagger. “You can’t tell anybody, o’right? Because if you did… it’s ‘off-with-his-head’ with me.”

“Oh, my God. This has to be good if it’s that serious.” Kris smirks. Kai can’t believe they’re having this discussion while they’re about to be roasted.

“Yeah, I guess,” he glances to Jongin again. The Gremlins are poking the spears into his butt, too. The Gremlins are fucking poking into the Prince’s butt! It’s an untoward situation to laugh, but Kai finds it hilarious. “He’s my brother.”

Maybe Kris didn’t catch Kai’s whisper, but he doesn’t react. Kai smashes his face into Kris’ chest as he bends lower, his arms tightening around Kris’ hips. “I’m not sure I heard it right,” Kris says after a moment.

“Oh, you heard it right,” Kai grunts and reaches Kris’ calf when the prick on his rear jolts him upright. He shoots the Gremlin with a glare. His sword, bow and arrows are all tossed aside where the horses are bound.

“I’m sorry, but did you say… brother?”

“Yeah. You need to keep your trap shut, Kris.” He shifts the glare to Kris’ widened, horrified eyes.

“Brother?!” he hisses and Kai wants to punch him in the mouth.

“You can’t tell anyone. Queen’s orders. Especially the Prince shan’t know!”

Kris doesn’t seem like he has the right words. He looks tongue-tied and utterly shocked. Kai can’t focus on this right now. He needs to find an escape route. That’s the thing about Kai. He always has an escape route.

The singing stops abruptly and the Gremlins fall to their knees. There are at least a hundred of them. Kai thinks they’re kissing the ground, which only means one thing. The Gremlin Gaffer pushes through the crowd and Kai heaves a sigh. The last time he and the Gremlin Gaffer had an encounter, he had burnt the Gaffer’s moss hut while he was trying to escape them. The Gremlin Gaffer is sort of like their leader. He… (Kai thinks it’s a male because you know, there’s a long junk hanging at the front of the Gremlin) is slightly taller than the others, which is why he is probably seen as strong and powerful. He stands up to Kai’s waist.

The Gremlin Gaffer looks up at Kai and Kris. He shrieks something gibberish, Kai couldn’t understand what he’s saying, but he sure knows the Gaffer isn’t happy. “Kris, say something.” Kai mutters when the Gremlin Gaffer quiets down and stares at him.

Kris, still stupefied, pins Kai with a frown. “What makes you think I speak Gremlin?”

“I don’t know, maybe you do.”

“I’ve been with you all my life. You think I could have learnt to speak Gremlin out of the blue?!” he snaps under his breath. Kai is trying to stall and hopefully entertain the Gaffer while he looks for an escape route.

The Gaffer is still staring, baring his green fangs. Then he waves at the Gremlins by his side who immediately bring their spears closer to Kai and Kris. Kai’s first instinct is to retaliate, but he stops when the Gremlins cut the ropes, releasing them. Kris stumbles and Kai steadies him. The Gremlins also untie Jongin and Yixing before they force them to walk towards the Gaffer. Yixing guides Jongin while whispering something into Jongin’s ear.

“I’m sorry!” Kai shouts at the Gaffer crashing to his knees. “I’m sorry I ate your deity’s fruit of divinity. I promise, I will never do that again. I was just so curious as to how awesome it’d taste if you guys were worshipping it. Trust me, I’ve done a lot of shite. But I am not here to cause any distress. We’re just passing and we want no hassle.”

The Gremlin Gaffer bursts into a wild bellow with his arms thrown up as though he is reprimanding Kai. Kai feels a little embarrassed as blood rushes to his cheeks with the Gaffer yelling at him. All for stealing a bloody fruit?! Kai pins Jongin with a sidelong glance. Yixing is still whispering to him and Jongin is smiling. The Gaffer continues to lambaste for a moment and when he stops, Kai flashes a sheepish smile.

“Maybe I can—” Jongin says out of the sudden and Kai hisses at him.

“Please, Your Majesty. I’m handling it.”

That is when the Gaffer orders the Gremlins to grab Kai’s arms. “No, no! Please, I am sorry!” he could fight them, but there’s just so many of them and there are so many sets of sharp teeth. A Gremlin’s claw scratches Kai’s arm, leaving a long bleeding slash from the shoulder to the elbow. Kris and Yixing step in at once, kicking a few Gremlins back, which only infuriates the Gaffer further.

Then Jongin drops to his knees beside Kai and clasps his hands together as if he’s praying. Kai’s eyes widens and everyone freezes, including the Gremlins. The Gaffer blinks and looks to Jongin, ordering the Gremlins to stand down. Jongin takes a gold medallion off his neck and cups it, holding it out to the Gaffer. “We’re sorry,” he says in the gentlest voice and with the gentlest smile plastered to his beautiful face. “Take this as a token of our sincerest amende honourable.”

The Gaffer’s round black eyes are intensely interested in the glimmering sun medallion. Kai doesn’t know if the Gremlins are interested in valuable, shiny jewellery, but he couldn’t be sure because he has never possessed any valuable, shiny jewellery and even if he does, he would not just give it away to these grimy monsters. The Gaffer looks impressed as he snatches the gold medallion from Jongin’s hands. He inspects it with extreme scrutiny before gnawing on its edge. Then pleased, the Gaffer nods his head at Jongin and growls at Kai before he turns around and walks away.

That does it. Kris and Yixing are gaping at Jongin the same way Kai is. Looks like he’s a diplomatic prince after all. But then it happens. The Gremlins grab Jongin’s arms and start to haul him away from the rest. Kai, while still kneeling, turns and swings an arm back. He grips his hand around the dagger in Kris’ boot and yanks it out. He knocks a Gremlin out of the way and shoots up to his feet. Instead of going after Jongin who’s being dragged towards the bonfire, Kai launches after the Gremlin Gaffer. That instant, the entire place erupts into chaos. Kris is mangling some Gremlins under his boots while Yixing is making a run towards their weapons on the grounds, stomping on every Gremlin that’s in his way. Kai gallops over the kneeling Jongin and lands on the ground, pouncing on the spooked Gaffer from behind. The Gremlin Gaffer screeches in horror as Kai tightens an arm around his neck.

“Argh!” Kai cries when his back is slashed by the spears and claws. He twirls around, lifting the Gaffer off the ground and punts the attacking Gremlins in the face until they fly back. “All right. Stop!” he orders, pressing the dagger’s blade to the Gaffer’s throat after lowering him back to the ground. The Gremlins halt at once and drop their spears. They’re gawking at Kai like they have seen their Devil. Every last one of them collapse to their knees obediently. “I don’t think I have to speak your language for you to understand what I want,” he says into the Gaffer’s ear with the Gaffer’s back pressed to his chest.

The old Gremlin Gaffer speaks balderdash in a much thwarted tone. Jongin is released and he rises to his feet. Kai winces a little when his back stings, but he ignores the subtle pain and moves forward, shoving the Gaffer to walk as well. Yixing and Kris ready the horses after grabbing their weapons again.

Kai hands Kris the dagger and the Gaffer as he sheaths his sword and slings his bow over a shoulder. “Let’s get out of here,” he mutters to Yixing who instantly jogs over to Jongin.

“What do we do with this?” Kris asks, jerking the scowling Gremlin Gaffer at Kai.

Arching an eyebrow, Kai yanks the medallion from the Gaffer and pockets it. “We’ll toss him off the horse later. Looks like you have a companion to ride with.” He smirks at Kris who groans, but he mounts his horse with the Gaffer.

“What’s going on?” Jongin asks miserable when Yixing helps him to the horses.

“Your fantastic plan to handle this like a diplomat flunked.” Kai says bluntly and grabs hold of Jongin’s arm. The Prince flinches, but Kai doesn’t care. He doesn’t know what he’s mad at, but he’s just mad. He’s mad that the snobbish Prince thought he could try to talk his way out of this by bribing a wild forest creature. He’s mad that Jongin thinks he’s smarter than him.

“Maybe he should ride—” Yixing says, but Kai cuts him off.

“He’ll ride with me because I say so. Get on.” He snaps and Jongin frowns like he’s just been scolded. Latching his hands on Jongin’s waist, Kai helps him up onto Sylvaticus. After kicking one last Gremlin in the face just for the satisfaction, Kai mounts his horse, in front of Jongin. Well, returning home should be a treat. If he returns at all. He’s just made the Gremlins possibly his worst enemies.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

Jongin silently rides with Kai again. Only that this time, Kai is walking by Sylvaticus’ side, pulling the reins in the direction of the Watergayte Woods. It’ll take a couple of days before they’d reach the Woods. Kai can’t tell if Jongin’s proud of what he’s done or if he finally understands the woodland creatures just don’t speak his royal-arse language. Maybe he must have thought they could have escaped the Gremlins, not because of Kai’s brilliant escape route, but because of Jongin’s diplomatic skills. Who the fuck would have thought you could negotiate with the pig-ignorant Gremlins? Apparently Jongin has.

They decide to rest when they’re far away from the Gremlin Hills. Kai keeps his eyes peeled just in case they get ambushed again, although they are already hills away from the Gremlins. Kris had dumped the Gaffer somewhere along the way. No one has spoken to anyone for a long stretch of time. The moon has disappeared behind puffs of grey clouds when Kai looks up at the night sky. It might rain. He sighs. They should stop to rest.

Kai comes to a halt and reins Sylvaticus to a stop. “Can we just rest the night here?”

Kris climbs down Clarus and smiles in Kai’s way. “Sure.”

“Kai,” Yixing calls, dismounting his horse. “Your back.”

“I know,” Kai lets out. His shoulders are sore, but his back is stinging painfully. He knows there are at least three long cuts and there’s also a cut on his arm. He isn’t bleeding, so they must be just deep scratches. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Yixing asks, resting a hand on Kai’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Kai assures him with a smile. “Your Highness,” he turns to Jongin who already has his legs swung to one side. “We’ll rest here tonight.” He’s still furious at Jongin, but there’s no point in moping over this anymore. Kai has felt challenged by his much lenient and gentle brother, and it’s only natural, he supposes. Jongin holds onto Kai’s shoulder as he jumps off the horse while Kai lightly grips onto the sides of Jongin’s waist and Kai tries to not to groan when Jongin’s hand presses into the cut on his shoulder.

Kai pulls out a spare shirt from the satchel. It’s a shirt, a nice, new, clean shirt, not a dirty tunic. It must be for the Prince, but he doesn’t mind. “I have to…” Jongin mutters shyly and even in the dark, Kai can see him blushing.

“You have to?” Yixing asks.

“Um… use the lavatory.” Jongin says. Yixing, Kai and Kris exchange a look among them.

“Where do you think we’ll get a _lavatory_ in the woods?” Kai spits in irritation. The vexation must have been so obvious in his tone that Yixing presses a palm to his chest as if to calm him down.

“I can take him if you want,” he offers, but Kai shakes his head.

“It’s all right. Can you sit Sylvaticus?” Kai hands Yixing the reins. “I have to go change and wash up. I’ll take him. There should be a brook around here. Come on.”

Kris is frowning at Kai when he struts past him with the shirt in his hand. “Kai,” Kris sighs tiredly and Kai turns around to see Jongin just standing there with a clueless expression. What is Kai supposed to do? Hold his hand and guide him? Wouldn’t that offend the Prince? Well, he hadn’t said anything when Kai held his hand earlier. But instead of taking Jongin’s hand, Kai curls a hand around Jongin’s elbow and ushers him to walk forward.

Kai recalls the brook when they reach it. It’s a very narrow and small streamlet, and shallow as well. “Can you piss on a tree?” Kai asks bluntly and Jongin grimaces.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, sorry. I mean do you mind to shake hands with an old friend in the woods or micturate over a bark?”

That makes Jongin scowl and Kai smirk. “We don’t say that. And a tree would do just fine.”

“Right,” he scoffs and pulls Jongin to stand before a tree.

Jongin waits for something and Kai blinks at him. By the second, Jongin’s face is turning redder and his lower lip is quivering. Then he shyly says, “Don’t look.”

Kai almost chokes on his tongue and immediately walks away from there. “Don’t look?” he hisses silently as he stomps towards the brooklet. “As if I want to. Dandee’s sake, who does he think he is?” he murmurs to himself and slowly turns his head halfway around. Jongin has his back facing Kai’s way. Shaking his head, Kai peels his tunic off and sheds it to the ground. He settles the new shirt on the tunic before kneeling on the bank of the brook. “Don’t look.”

He snorts and cups a handful of water. His stomach grumbles. He hasn’t eaten anything but a wild plum since morning. He ignores his rumbling stomach and dribbles the water down the gash on his arm. He clenches his jaw and grinds his teeth with his eyes closed when the cut stings. “Fuck,” he curses under his breath and wonders how to reach his back. Maybe he should just jump into the water, but the brook is too shallow for a dip.

“Are you angry?” Jongin asks, somehow finding his way to Kai’s side.

Kai looks away and aggressively washes his arm without minding the pain. “No.”

“You sound like it.” he crouches, keeping his gaze ahead at the brook. His hands find their way to the water and he rinses them.

Kai studies Jongin’s face for a moment. It’s blank, but there’s a hint of disappointment. “Do you even know what we caught us back there?”

“Yes. Yixing told me. Gremlins.”

“Have you seen a Gremlin before?”

Jongin takes a moment to answer. “In books.”

“In books,” Kai scoffs. “That’s what I’m talking about. You’re a Prince. I know that you’re supposed to take the higher road, but you _do not_ kneel before anyone! You fucking knelt before a filthy Gremlin! And then you tried to bribe him. It would worked better on your part if you had bothered to take a strong foothold and hold a blade to the Gremlin’s head. You think you know better than us Hunters, huh?”

Jongin cringes and drops his head. “I just wanted to help.” he whispers.

“You _can’t_ help. You need help. That’s why you’re here with us. You can’t help anybody, do you understand? And it’s okay, because you’re the bloody Prince. You make a mess, other people will clean it up for you while get the credit for offering to clean it up.” Kai snaps ferociously and runs a wet hand through his hair, dampening some strands, pushing them back.

Jongin remains silent for a moment as Kai tries to wash his back. When Kai hisses, Jongin’s head perk up. “Are you hurt?”

“It doesn’t matter to you.”

“You know… Nobody has ever spoken that way to me.”

“I bet.” Kai couldn’t help but let out a snigger.

Jongin edges closer to Kai. “I’m sorry,” he breathes out. “I won’t do that again.” He raises a shivering hand to Kai’s shoulder. “Can I at least help… you?” Kai doesn’t say anything as Jongin’s fingers travel along his shoulder, lurking about the edges of the gash. Jongin’s eyes bulges. “You’re cut,” he rasps. His soft fingertips prance along Kai’s sharp collarbone, along the dry scar. Kai doesn’t even remember where he got that from, but the scar extends to his sternum. Jongin’s fingers ghosts over the scar. There’s a horrified expression on Jongin’s face. “How did this…” he trails off.

“I’m not sure.” Kai whispers, keeping his eyes on Jongin’s blind ones.

Jongin draws his fingers to the scar on Kai’s left side of the chest. Kai closes his eyes and sucks in a shaky breath. It’s been a while since anything as soft as Jongin’s fingers has touched him. “And this?”

That Kai remembers. “I had a brawl with the White Boggart.”

“Did it… go for your heart?”

“Yeah,” Kai sighs, surveying Jongin’s lips.

“Do you have a lot of wounds?”

“Scars. I have a lot of scars. And now, I’ll have new ones.”

Jongin splays his hand on Kai’s chest and smiles. “You sound like you’re proud of them.”

“I am. Well, I should be, right?” Kai keeps his voice low. All his anger is just washed away and he just wants to look at Jongin’s smile. For some odd reason, Kai wants to touch the corners of Jongin’s lips with his fingers, but he’ll be damned to even touch the Prince’s face with his dirty, rough hands.

“You should be.” Jongin exhales as his hand begins to tremble against Kai’s chest. His forefinger traces another scar and his cheeks crimson. He curls his lower lip between his teeth and draws his palm lightly down Kai’s sternum. It sends a gripping jolt down Kai’s spine. He shoots up to his feet and steps away from Jongin with his heart pounding in his throat.

Letting out a nervous laughter, Kai says, “We ought to get back, maybe catch a few winks.” He hurries to grab the shirt and pulls it on. It takes him a moment to tie the laces of the shirt before he tucks it into his trousers.

“How old are you?” Jongin asks.

“Uh… Same as you, I guess.”

That pulls the corners of Jongin’s lips into a smile. “Oh. All right.”

“Shall we?”

When Jongin nods his head, Kai hesitates a little. Maybe he should put a leash on Jongin, but that’ll seem mean, won’t it? _The Hunter who put a leash on the Prince._ Kai shakes that thought away and takes Jongin by the arm. There’s a sheepish grin on Jongin’s lips and Kai couldn’t read it. Jongin’s also blushing, but Kai doesn’t comprehend the need for it.


	9. Chapter 9

“Psst.”

Kai’s eyes flies open and he greets the darkness with a grim scowl. The night is still very rich and very young. The grey clouds are still hovering confusedly in the sky, fat with unshed rain.

“Kai.”

Kai grits his teeth as he turns his head uncomfortably to meet Yixing and Kris’ perturbed gazes. Kai has his old tunic rolled up under his chin as he lays there on his stomach since his back his wounded. “What?”

Kris sits up and folds his legs. “About what you said earlier. Maybe we should talk?” he says.

Groaning, Kai looks to Yixing who has that stupefied expression on. “You told him?” he asks calmly. He isn’t mad, he’s just glad he doesn’t have to tell Yixing all about it, too.

“Yeah.”

“What on sodding earth do you mean he’s your brother? Does that mean he’s born to your mother and father? Like he came out of your mother’s clunge?” Yixing rasps under his breath. Jongin is curled into a ball beside Nitidus and is sleeping like a babe. Any tighter, he might actually become a ball. He must be cold, but he hasn’t pestered any of them for extra layers. Maybe he isn’t such a snob. Well, Kai could have certified that the moment the Prince had his dainty fingers all over a filthy, peasant Hunter’s chest.

Kai pulls himself upright, wincing a little when his back stung. “Despite the fact that you’ve just mentioned my mother’s clunge, yes, Yixing. He’s my brother.”

“He’s a scum?!”

Kai rolls his eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause _I_ can never be a royalty, eh?”

There is an odd silence and Yixing exchanges a glance with Kris. Kai wants to a sink into the ground. They’re right. In what realm would Kai be a bloody prince?! It’s absurd to even picture him strutting like a royalty. But he is. He _is_ a prince. “The Queen… is my mother. I… was stolen away by my father who was the Queen’s garrison’s Commander at the time. He abandoned me in the forest, then I guess the Shikari found and took me in. I’m the firstborn,” he whispers and Yixing gasps. “Jongin is my twin brother.” Yixing gasps even louder and Kai scowls. “ _That_ gets a bigger reaction? So what if he’s my brother?”

“How are you twins? I mean, there’s a resemblance, but he looks _nothing_ like you!”

Kai frowns, but mostly because he’s disappointed. If even Yixing and Kris are reacting this way, imagine how Jongin would react. “Why?”

“I don’t know… You’re… Kai! He’s the Prince!”

“Translation. You’re ugly, he’s beautiful.” Kris laughs.

“I didn’t say that,” Yixing says, scowling and nudges Kris’ ribs with his elbow. “I personally think Kai is more handsome. But the Prince looks… young and God, his voice is just so soft!”

“Yeah, it’s because he grew up sucking on honey and treacle,” Kai spits. “While I was sipping the smoke of burned cow dungs.”

Yixing flashes a dopey grin. “Well, that’s a good point. Natheless, how can you be a prince, Kai? This is radical!”

“I know,” he sighs. “I couldn’t believe it either.”

“So, what are you going to do?” Kris asks.

Kai shrugs. “What the Queen said. And then send him home.”

“But if you’re the Prince, you’re entitled to—”

“I know what I’m entitled to, Kris. It doesn’t matter. I might have royal blood, but look at me. How can I even be a prince?”

Yixing lets out an exasperated breath. “I always knew there’s something off with you. You just excel at everything that you do. You’re a natural leader and yes, sure, you have your weaknesses, like redheads and boys with lanky, feminine bodies and oh my God, big busts—”

“Yixing.” Kris snaps.

“My point is, Kai, you have something extraordinary and I’ve always known that. Mate, I am not fooling around. You’d be a marvellous King!”

Kai blinks at Yixing. “Whoah, let me stop you right there. I’m telling you that I’m not even fit to be a prince and here you are blabbering about being a King!” he hisses in a breath.

“Oh, and he is?” Kris jerks his chin to the sleeping Jongin. “If he’s crowned as King, we’re all doomed. No offence, he’s the sweetest thing and yes, he’s indisputably gorgeous. He’s also very nice, but Kai, he’s helpless. For crying out loud, he tried to barter with the Gremlins!”

“It’s not up to me, okay? Even you guys find it very hard to believe that I’m a prince—Hell, I’m not sure even if I truly believe that. The Queen has all the power here.”

“She’s your mother!” Yixing cries silently.

Kai lowers back down and rests his chin on his bundled tunic. “Yeah, well, apparently she doesn’t care about her lost child. And I totally understand her.”

Neither Yixing nor Kris push the matter any further. They seem so baffled as they lay down. Kai tries to not to let it bother him as he looks to Jongin. His brother is the most beautiful creature he’s ever seen and a part of Kai just wishes he never met Jongin. Everything about him is just so gentle and kind. He will be no match for Kings. He will need Kai by his side if he is to rule Servanya. Or maybe not. Maybe he will just be so disgusted with Kai when he finds out they’re tied by blood.

As Kai gives in to the drowsiness, his heart thumps harder and louder against his chest. It doesn’t stop and it pounds in his ears. There’s a _thud_ and there’s a _thob._ _Thud-thob, thud-thob, thud-thob_ it goes. He cracks an eye open and realizes it isn’t his heart. It’s the ground.

He springs up to his feet when Kris and Yixing jolt up to theirs. The ground rumbles beneath them and Kai’s blood runs cold. “No,” Kris lets out. “Not again.”

“Go, go!” Kai shouts and they frantically run toward the horses. By the second, the ground shakes and thunders even harder, even faster. Crashing to his knees on the ground, Kai grabs Jongin’s shoulder and furiously shakes it while Yixing and Kris saddle up the horses. “Wake up!”

Jongin stirs, but moans, shoving Kai’s hand off and curls up again.

“No, seriously, wake up!” Kai yanks Jongin up by the shirt, but Jongin doesn’t even open his eyes fully as he whines.

“Kai!” Yixing yelps and Kai perks his head to look into the dark woods. The giant creature is running towards them. The horses whinny and shuffle around. “It’s a Behemoth!”

Kai doesn’t waste another moment as he lifts Jongin up and throws him over his shoulder. The hurt one. “Run! Run!”

While the horses gallop in all directions, Kris and Yixing flee into the forest, beating a hasty retreat as Kai scarpers forward. The Behemoth reaches them before they could disappear from its side. It’s the largest kind Kai has seen thus far and it lets out a feral roar, crawling on all fours. It’s as big as a hill with horns all over its head.

“What’s happening?!” Jongin cries, still half sleepily as Kai makes a break for it, pelting around trees. The Behemoth bellows again and Jongin grips onto Kai’s hair at the back of his head.

“Agh!” Kai shrieks and Jongin grabs onto his neck instead. He is never going to outrun a Behemoth with Jongin’s weight.

“What is _that_?!”

“A Behemoth!”

“What’s a Behemoth?!”

Kai is out of breath and he lowers Jongin down to the ground, but takes his hand instead. “Run!”

Jongin runs. Blindly. That takes an incredible amount of courage and trust. He runs because Kai is holding his hand. The Behemoth’s steps grow harder behind them as Kai bolts, dragging Jongin with him. Jongin trips over a couple of roots, but he doesn’t slow down either. Kai is now following the streamlet as he leaps along it. “Where are we running to?!”

“I don’t know!” They reach an edge and Kai yanks Jongin to a halt. “Fuck,” he spits and turns his head halfway around. Trees fly and bend as the grey Behemoth charges through them. When it bellows, Kai looks down the edge. There’s a waterfall on the opposite and the streamlet flows down the rocks. “Oh, shit. Shit. Shit,” he chants with his heart beating in his stomach. Well, jumping off a cliff and diving into the water or get eaten by a Behemoth? Kai’s pretty sure he’s ready to take his chances of drowning. His grip tightens around Jongin’s hand as he hauls Jongin to him. “I need you to trust me, okay?”

“What?”

“Don’t let go of me,” he grapples an arm around Jongin’s body. “Run.” Jongin blindly runs again.

They sprint over the edge just when the Behemoth catches up to them. Jongin bursts into a scream as he desperately clings onto Kai, wrapping his arms and legs around Kai’s body. Kai shifts his weight so that he is now under Jongin and firmly holds Jongin in his arms. He’s done this a couple of times, but Kai isn’t sure how deep this waterfall is. Well, he’s about to find out. The Behemoth angrily howls, stopping at the edge and that is the last thing Kai hears before his back slams against the water surface and his back feels more wrecked than ever.

He gasps in a breath as he dives into the water, still protectively holding Jongin. As they drown, Jongin rustles in a frantic frenzy and Kai brings his hands to Jongin’s chest before he shoves him so that Jongin will surface. As soon as Jongin’s breathing again, Kai swims to the surface and gasps in a mouthful of air.

“Kai! Kai!” Jongin cries in desperation, slapping the water and Kai grabs his wrists.

“I’m here. I’m here.” Kai rasps and Jongin breathes again.

“Did we just jump—”

“Yes,” he sighs tiredly, coughing out some water. “Come on.” He curls an arm around Jongin’s waist and drags him to the shore. He pushes Jongin up the rocks first before he climbs up.

“Is it gone?” Jongin asks, panting hard as Kai tries to catch his own breath, pushing his wet hair out of his forehead.

“Yeah,” he exhales, sobbing for air and throws his head back. Then he takes off his boots and drains them. He doesn’t exactly know where they are now, but he’s sure he can find his way. Right now, he’s more worried about Kris and Yixing. But they would have gotten away. The map’s with them. The horses are with them. All that Kai has is a sword. And a wet Prince. He’s screwed. “Come on. We need to get going. I don’t know what lurks about this part of the forest right now.”

He stands up with the boots in his hand. Jongin looks exhausted as he lies down on his back. “In a moment,” he lets out. His soaked shirt is raised to his chest, exposing the flat planes of his stomach and his narrow navel.

Kai bites his lip. “We have to go, Your Highness.”

“I can’t.”

Kai sinks back down to the ground and takes his wet shirt off. He thinks about taking his pants off as well, but decides against it when he looks at the Prince’s bronze stomach and waist again.

“Can this night get any worse?” Jongin mutters and Kai watches the rivulets of water trickle down the corners of his jaw.

As if on cue, a thunder roars and it pours. The clouds finally give up as the rain falls. Kai sighs, hanging his head. “Yes, it can.”


	10. Chapter 10

The rain kissed ground is soaked and soft, leaving patches of grassless soil mud-caked and roily. There are puddles of deluge when the rain has stopped. They haven’t stopped to take cover from the rain—in fact, Jongin has been rather enjoying the heavy pour. Kai watches him as the last small pellets of rain ricochet off Jongin’s palms and Jongin faces the sky with his eyes happily clenched close, enjoying the final drops. As the clouds stop sobbing, the sun rises, the sky blues and the forest chirps. Jongin presses his palms to his cheeks and smiles like he’s fallen in love. Kai watches him with a corner of his lips quirked into a smirk, arms crossed over his chest while he leans against a tree.

Jongin draws his tongue over his pinked lower lip and licks the tiny rain rivulets off the lip. The wet shirt is clinging to Jongin’s body like a second skin, completely see-through and Kai doesn’t let his eyes linger on his brother’s body for too long.

“I’ve never been in the rain,” Jongin sighs after a moment as the blue jays begin to swirl in the sky, shrilling to rouse the forest.

Kai pulls his shirt on in spite of it being completely drenched. He doesn’t lace his shirt up and lets it hang on his shoulders as he pulls away from the tree. “Well, if you’re done making love to the rain, we should get moving.” He tightens the sheath belt around his waist and checks the wind’s direction. Then he gazes to the tips of Twin Mountains ahead. “This way.” As he starts walking, he looks back and sees Jongin standing still, chewing on his lip. “Oh. Hold on.”

He doesn’t think he can trek through the forest holding Jongin’s hand the whole time. So he jogs past the trees and draws his sword out when he finds some Lianas. He slices the woody vines with a single strike and cringes in awe at the efficiency of the blade. Then sheathing the sword again, he picks up the vine before he leaps back to Jongin.

“Here,” he pants out, grabbing Jongin’s hand and presses an end of the Liana in Jongin’s palm. “I think you’ll find this much more comforting than my jagged hands.”

Jongin smiles at that and curls his hand around the vine. “Where are we going now?”

As Kai holds onto the other end of the vine, he walks with Jongin following behind him. “The mountains. That’s where the Pythoness’ Lair is. It’s past the Watergayte Woods. We call the mountains The Twins.”

Ironic. Really.

He glances back to Jongin who is careful with his steps. Kai slows down. “Will Kris and Yixing be all right?” he asks and Kai heaves a rough breath.

“They’re the toughest blokes I know. They’ll be fine. And I suppose they’ll be taking the easy route, mayhap shorter. I’m not really sure I’ve crossed this path.”

Jongin doesn’t reply. Kai is just hoping Kris and Yixing will find them first. Travelling through the forest with a blind lad without a horse or any food supply is bound to be toilsome. All that Kai has is his sword.

They walk and saunter through the woods without a stop. Jongin trips over some mud puddles and roots along the way, but doesn’t ask for a rest. Eventually, the sun stands high in the sky, dazzling and burning like a medallion. Kai flinches when he remembers about Jongin’s medallion. He hastily checks his pants’ pocket and wraps his fingers around the golden medallion. He should probably return it to Jongin.

When he turns his head around, Jongin is clenching his shirt by his stomach. Kai realizes that their clothes and hair are almost completely dry, although he can still feel the moistness in his boots. Jongin drops his hand to his side when he hears a bird’s call. “What bird is that?” he gasps in astonishment, grinning.

“Uh… I think it’s a Grosbeak. Or maybe a Song Thrush.” Kai says, wondering how little it actually takes to make the Prince happy.

Jongin listens to the gentle song as he walks. “Its song is so beautiful.”

“Yeah. Must be attracting a mate.”

Jongin falls silent and the smile from his lips falters. Kai glances ahead and then to the mountains. It might take more than a couple of days before they’d reach The Twins.

“Why don’t humans do that?” Jongin asks after a while and Kai catches a glimpse of his funny smile. Something is certainly amusing Jongin and Kai is honestly confused about how jovial Jongin is about being stranded in the forest.

“Do what?”

“The attracting mates like the Song Thrush.”

“By singing?” Kai scoffs.

“No… Although that doesn’t seem like a horrible way to attract someone.”

That makes Kai laugh. “Trust me. You don’t want to hear _me_ sing. I only sing to wake Yixing up or to drive away the wenches Kris brings to the cottage. It’s nothing personal. Women always seem to prefer Kris over me and maybe it’s because Kris treats them like a gentleman.”

“Kris treats them like they’re a gentleman?” Jongin looks genuinely confused.

“No, no. I mean Kris is the gentleman.”

Jongin chuckles a little. “Don’t worry, Hunter. You don’t have to sing for me unless you’re trying to attract me.”

Kai swallows and returns his attention to the rain washed path on the ground. “Well, maybe we don’t sing. But we do attract others, don’t we?”

“I wouldn’t know anything about that. Have you? Attracted mates?”

“I’m not an animal to attract _mates_ ,” he snorts.

Jongin snorts back. “Your behaviour says otherwise.”

Kai comes to a stop and turns on his heel to glare at the beaming Jongin. “If you’re asking whether I’ve fucked people, yes, I have. Countless of ‘em. Are you happy, Your Majesty?” he rolls his eyes and starts strutting again. His friends are right. Kai does have a rotten manner.

Jongin doesn’t utter a word for a long stretch of while. “I was not asking that,” he mutters when the moment has passed. “I wasn’t even remotely curious about that. I just wanted to know if you have a wife.”

“I don’t. Okay? If I did, I wouldn’t be here, trekking through a forest full of deaths and Hell-On-Earth with a blind boy.”

“I’m not a boy,” he argues defensively and Kai stops again to face him.

“Oh, really? Do you seriously think you’re a man?”

“I _am_ a man. Aren’t you? You said we’re about the same age!” he is glowering now, cheeks filled with blood and impatiently annoyed.

Kai finds this side of Jongin rather amicable than infuriating. He almost smiles at how endearing Jongin looks even when he’s mad. “Age doesn’t make a boy a man.”

“Oh, and what does, Mister Wise-Old-Hunter?!” he spits angrily.

Kai drops the vine and crosses the distance between them in short, slow steps. “Well, for starters, let’s talk about what we were discussing a moment ago, shall we? What do you think turns a boy into a man, Your Highness?”

Jongin goes completely red. He parts his lips to say something, but nothing but a shaky breath escapes. Then he rolls his shoulders back, pushes his chest out and proudly exclaims, “How would you know I’ve never done it?”

Kai pulls back and blinks. “Have… you?”

“Of course!” his nose scrunches as if in disgust.

“Oh,” Kai smirks. “I suppose it’s settled, then. You’re a man.”

“Exactly.” Jongin frowns a little and Kai tries to not to make another rejoinder as he turns around. Then after a moment, Jongin lets out a loud breath.

“Some people say your junk will turn black if you do it before marriage.” Kai says, picking up the vine again.

“That… can’t be true.” Jongin murmurs hesitantly. “Right?”

“Well, you’d know, won’t you, Your Highness?” Kai is biting back on a laugh, but Jongin really is horrible at _not_ blushing. He is as red as a rosebud.

“I’m hungry,” Jongin says out of the sudden.

“You already ate yesterday,” Kai groans, frowning.

“Exactly, Kai. I ate _yesterday_.” He is scowling. Kai wants to pinch his cheeks, maybe bite them. Then kiss them. Fuck.

“Uh, okay,” he blurts out, shaking his head. “We can go look for a river or…” he lours at the trees around. “Come on.”

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

They are wasting too much time. The sun is already hinting on noontide. Kai wanders deeper into the forest and stops when he finds the trees after almost an hour of looking for one. “Yes,” he hisses and glances up. There are a couple of Monkey Plums in the top branches, but there aren’t any thick low branches for him to climb on. Then cursing under his breath, he unsheathes his sword and tries to chop the branches off, but it is to no avail.

Jongin is looking like a starved pup waiting for his mother to give him something to eat. Kai grits his teeth when he thinks about using Jongin as a stool to climb on and reach the plums, but would that seem untoward considering the fact he probably shouldn’t step on the Prince?

“Um,” he hums, licking his lips. “Found some plums. They’re big enough. But it’s too high for me to reach.”

That instant, Jongin’s face wilts in disappointment. He looks more like a sad puppy now. Kai finds every last one of Jongin’s expressions and reactions very amusing. “How _big_ are they?” he asks in a soft, miserable voice.

Kai looks up at the black plums again. “As big as your… my hand, Your Majesty.” Kai does have a bigger hand than Jongin. Or so he’d like to believe. He must generally have everything bigger than Jongin.

Jongin looks like he might cry. “I want them.”

“I know. I want them, too,” he sighs. “Well, I _could_ lift you and maybe you’d reach it, but I don’t think you’ll—”

“What on heavens are you waiting for?!” he jumps forward at once with his hands frantically searching for Kai. Then he grabs Kai’s unlaced shirt and clings onto it by the shoulders.

Wide-eyed, Kai latches his hands to Jongin’s waist. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Let’s get those plums.”

Kai bends his knees and tightens his arms around Jongin’s thighs. A side of his face is pressed into Jongin’s flat belly as he lifts Jongin off the ground. “Just stretch your arms up,” he grunts, rising to his full height, supporting Jongin’s entire weight. Jongin holds onto one of Kai’s shoulders with a hand while the other blindly feels the branches for the fat, juicy fruits. Kai looks up, burying his chin into Jongin’s abdomen. He still smells incredibly good. Something like wild sage and lavender. Maybe with a hint of rosewater.

Then Jongin brings a hand to the top of Kai’s head and presses on it, to reach higher. Kai groans when he clutches his hair. His grip tightens around Jongin’s legs and he tries his level best to ignore Jongin’s dick pressing into his collarbones.

“Got it!” Jongin yelps and yanks the fruit. It drops to the ground before he grabs the next one. Then Kai lowers him as Jongin slowly releases his hair, running his fingers along the rough hair strands. As his feet touches the land, he draws his hand down Kai’s bared chest due to the unlaced shirt.

With abruptness, they pull away from each other and Kai turns his concentration to the fruits. “Good job, Prince,” he mutters.

“Phew, that was hard work,” he mocks with a smirk and Kai narrows his eyes.

He shoves the plums against Jongin. “Here, fill your tum.”

“What about you?”

“I’m not hungry. We have to go.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Kai laces his shirt up, but leaves it open by the chest.


	11. Chapter 11

There is an eerie silence when they enter the darker part of the forest. Crows are circling the sky, but they aren’t cawing, although the sound of the flaps of their wings is very audible in this dark silence. Kai looks back to Jongin. The fatigue is palpable in Jongin’s face. He looks unbelievably exhausted and Kai is worried that he might collapse. Even so, Jongin hasn’t complained even once or asked for a rest. His eyes are heavy and red. His lips are dry and chapped. His beautiful bronze skin has gone pale. Kai has to stop for Jongin to grab some sleep.

But he glances around. The forest is too dark even though the evening sky has barely darkened. Everything looks sullen and the ferns are curling themselves up, fearing the darkness. Kai is sure they have stepped onto one of the trails of the Hell-On-Earth, which means they would have to be alert at all times. There’s no telling what sort of murderous creature might lurk about here in the dark. It will be really risky to stay put here, but Jongin seriously looks terribly bushed and worn out.

He comes to a stop and Jongin halts as well. “Your Highness, are you all right?” he asks, although he knows Jongin isn’t.

Jongin slowly nods his head as his eyelids fall droopily heavy. “I’m fine. Is it still too far?”

Kai gazes to the Twin Mountains. They are still far away. “Do you think you can walk a little longer? Maybe we can rest out of this part of the forest.”

Jongin nods again without complaint. “Okay.”

Kai feels terrible about pushing the Prince to do this. It’s a miracle that the Prince has made it this far considering how vulnerable and delicate he is. Maybe Jongin is tougher than he looks. After all, it’s the willpower that matters. He walks, pulling the Liana vine with him and Jongin follows.

Kai is also worried about his friends. There has been no sight of them or the horses, so he could only hope to Heaven they are all right. Sometimes, Kai wonders what or who he’d be without Kris and Yixing. He often decides on empty. He’ll be empty. _Emptier._ He is living the life of an adventurer. He doesn’t know what fate has in store for him. He just rolls with it. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever have a proper family. He’s the rightful heir to the throne. He knows that, at least. But he doesn’t pine for it. Jongin should be King. Kai is a Hunter and he’ll die that way.

Their clothes are covered in muck and grime. Kai could tell Jongin is very uncomfortable in his dirty clothes as he keeps scrunching his nose, tugging at his shirt and pants. Every time Kai sees Jongin scrunching his nose, he wants to bite the tip of his nose, to be completely honest. He wiggles his nose like a puppy when he’s disgusted or discomforted.

Kai runs his fingers through his mussed hair and looks to Jongin again. The boy looks paler by the second. His face is completely drained of blood and there is no colour in his lips. Kai’s attention is averted when he hears a ruffling noise.

He draws his sword out at once and focuses on the noise that is emitting from deep within the woods. “Kai?” Jongin asks in a raspy breath—his voice is cracking.

“Shh,” he hushes Jongin and drops the vine. He strains his vision to make out the crouching figure behind the wild fern bush. His stomach clenches when the creature registers to his brain. “Don’t move,” he breathes out, stealthily moving towards Jongin. Then slowly curling an arm around Jongin’s waist, he pulls Jongin to a tree and hides behind it. “It’s a Mushroom Ghoul,” he exhales, pinning his own back to the bark of the tree while Jongin presses himself to his chest. Kai doesn’t withdraw his arm from Jongin’s waist as he turns his head to glance to the Ghoul. It’s crawling around without a direction.

Jongin looks relieved when Kai faces him.

“Why do you look relieved?” Kai asks, suddenly very conscious of their chests pressed against each other. He could feel Jongin’s heartbeat against his own. He wants to pull his arm back, but he doesn’t. Jongin curls up against Kai’s chest, his hands clinging onto Kai’s shirt.

“It’s just a Mushroom Ghoul,” Jongin whispers.

“Please tell me you don’t think Mushroom Ghouls feed on mushrooms.”

Jongin blinks in confusion. “They don’t?”

Kai wants to laugh, but Jongin’s lips are so close to his own that he could feel Jongin’s hot breath on his chin. It’s a little too hot. “No, they don’t. They feed on blood. They have mushroom growth on their skin. And all over their hunched back.”

“Oh.” Jongin’s eyes are so red and his lips look so dry. He’s breathing through his mouth and is shivering. As he shakes against Kai, the Ghoul turns around and runs away out of the sudden.

“It’s gone,” Kai finally breathes again. But the supply of air is cut off when Jongin drops his face onto Kai’s shoulder, nuzzling his nose into the crook of Kai’s neck where the shoulder and neck met. Kai freezes as Jongin’s silky soft hair brushes his jaw. His heart beats in his throat while Jongin lips skim his collarbone involuntarily. Jongin is pressing his palm to the cleft of Kai’s chest. It burns there.

Only then does he realize how hot Jongin’s entire body is. He is literally burning. “Oh, my God, you have a fever.” Kai gasps, cupping Jongin’s cheek. It almost scorches Kai’s palm.

Jongin’s eyes fall heavier. “Do I?” he murmurs. “I’m so… tired.”

“God damn it,” Kai hisses when Jongin collapses against him again. This time, he falls entirely unconscious. “Your Majesty? Jong… in? Jongin?” Kai calls desperately, grappling an arm around Jongin’s back to hold him up. This is horrible. This is fucking horrible.

Jongin mumbles softly as Kai lifts him into his arms after sheathing his sword. A side of Jongin’s face is buried into Kai’s chest where the skin is exposed by the unlaced shirt. Kai’s run blood cold and his body shudders. He doesn’t know what he should do with Jongin’s fever running high in this foreign part of the forest. He proceeds in the path, carrying Jongin in his arms, and keeping him warm. Maybe he should build a fire, but definitely not here. He cannot attract any more wild creatures.

His arms begin to turn numb after some while. He doesn’t stop and continues in the path. He doesn’t have any water and he sure as hell doesn’t have any medicinal herbs. Maybe he could find some Elderflowers. That would help Jongin sweat. But he is already really dehydrated.

Kai stops at a point and lowers Jongin to the ground. In a desperate frenzy, he runs around like a mad man, looking for rocks and twigs. When he has found them, he makes a small fire. Jongin shivers and his teeth chatter. He wraps his arms around his legs and hugs his knees to his chest. He is half conscious, but he doesn’t open his eyes.

“Fuck,” Kai curses under his breath and takes his own shirt off. He drapes it over Jongin’s trembling body, but it isn’t enough. He’s still so cold while he burns hot. “Jongin?” he calls in a shaky breath with a hand caressing Jongin’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

Then biting his lower lip, Kai presses a palm to Jongin’s cheek. He’ll need some medicine, otherwise he won’t get through the night with this fever. Kai grits his teeth and hastily unlaces Jongin’s shirt. He doesn’t take Jongin’s shirt off and pulls Jongin up to his lap. Jongin whimpers when their bare chests touch. He weakly snakes his arms around Kai’s neck and rests his head on Kai’s shoulder, thoroughly enjoying and devouring Kai’s heat. Kai secures Jongin in place with his arms tightened around Jongin’s waist. They sit close to the fire and Jongin’s palms are pressed to Kai’s warm back. Kai feels a pang in his heart when Jongin tries to stroke his hair. Jongin’s fingers softly curl around the strands of Kai’s hair as he buries his face deeper into Kai’s shoulder. This… is… dangerous.

Jongin eventually loses his consciousness again and falls weak against Kai. Kai presses his lips to Jongin’s shoulder and strokes his palm up and down Jongin’s spine.

Then he feels the thuds of horse hooves on the ground before he sees the light of torchwood illuminating the dark forest. Kai’s heart jumps when he realizes it could be Kris and Yixing.

Except that it isn’t. The horse lets out a deafening neigh as it comes to a halt and a man dismounts it. Kai sighs. It’s a Watergayte man.

He lifts Jongin into his arms again. “I’m not going to harm anyone!” he calls out when the Watergayte man aims his arrow in Kai’s way. The man has long black dreadlocks. The man yelps something in his own language. Kai can only understand some of it. He’s asking who he is. “My name is Kai. Your Kahuna knows me.” Well, the Chief does know him. He just doesn’t like him. But Kai doesn’t care. Jongin needs help and of course the Watergayte people would help if they know he is the Prince.

“What do you want?” the man asks in a thick accent.

“He’s ill. I need your help. He needs aid.”

The Watergayte man surveys Jongin’s motionless, limp body in Kai’s arms. “Come,” he offers, bringing his horse forward. Kai lets out a sigh of relief and thanks that man.

* * *

(A/N) Wrote a new short fic. Angst so be warned. <http://archiveofourown.org/works/7467261>

 


	12. Chapter 12

The Watergayte tribe is one of the most renowned and respected tribes in Servanya. They are the people of the forest. The Watergayte Woods is known for its magick and its shamanistic elements. In some ways, they mimic the lifestyle of Red Natives in the far north. But the Watergayte tribe is much older than them. So much older. Everything about their small village in the woods is sacred and honoured.

Which is why their Kahuna, the Chief of Watergayte Woods was on warpath when he found out Kai had stained and deflowered his children. It was impossible to turn a blind eye to them, okay? They were practically throwing themselves onto him and honestly, Kai just couldn’t resist it when the Chief’s son, Ælfnoð pulled him by the tunic and climbed onto his lap. His sister, Ælfþryð walked by and decided to join them. It wasn’t all Kai’s fault that those two wanted him. He was born charming!

The village has small huts and tents made from cow’s skin. Children scurry out in giggles and everything still remains the same. Women and men are gathered around small fires outside their huts while they enjoy their night meals over a good conversation. The village and the Watergayte tribe are just beautiful when compared to the Wakening. Kai just wishes the Chief has died of old age.

Right now, he couldn’t afford to be picky. Jongin needs help and Kai would sell his head for it. Jongin is still burning in his arms, his head nestled into Kai’s bare chest with Kai’s shirt enveloping his quaking body.

The man who found them stops at the short fence. People notice their presence at once and some of them rise to the feet, gawking at Kai in a sort of amazed consternation. Both the men and women wear just tunics made from animal skin and they don’t wear shoes. They respect the earth, they say. They need to feel the earth beneath the feet, between their toes.

One of them walks over to them and asks the man something in their own language. Kai catches the word, ‘ _who’_ , ‘ _why’_ and ‘ _here’_. The man who had helped them sounds like he’s arguing, but Kai couldn’t tell for sure.

Kris and Yixing haven’t made it.

“He needs aid,” Kai says desperately to the woman who hurries over to Jongin. She looks up at Kai and grimaces. Clearly she recognizes Kai. But she presses the back of her hand to Jongin’s head and frowns.

“Ill,” she mutters and Kai feverously nods his head.

“Yes, yes. He’s ill. He has a fever.”

She touches the cut on Kai’s arm and says something.

“No, I’m fine,” Kai rasps. “Just help him.”

Then the woman orders someone to take Jongin from his arms and Kai defensively pulls back. The man presses a hand to Kai’s shoulder.

“ _Shaman_. Will help him,” he says and Kai glares at him. But he gives in and nods before settling Jongin in another man’s arms.

But before they could take him away, there is a loud thud that rumbles the ground. Kai looks up, shuddering a little when the cold wind stings the healing cuts on his back. “ _What is going on here?!”_ the Chief cries and Kai understands that clearly. The old man prances around screaming the same thing quite a lot. In fact that’s what he yapped when he found his son and daughter sleeping with Kai.

The Chief’s eyes bulge out when he sees Kai. “You!” he spits, louder than the bellow of a Behemoth’s.

Kai drops to his knees at once and hangs his head. “I am ashamed and terribly sorry for what I had done, Kahuna Guðleifr,” he speaks out loud. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I am in dire need of your help.”

The Chief thumps his staff on the ground and spits. “You… don’t… come back!”

“I know, Kahuna Guðleifr,” he looks up to the man and frowns. “I wasn’t going to. But the Prince,” he glances to Jongin who is lying limp in some man’s arms. “He’s sick. He needs medicine.”

With even wider eyes, the Chief looks to Jongin. “Prince?”

“Yes, sir. He’s the Prince. The Queen had ordered me to not to let anybody know, but he needs help. Please.”

The Chief doesn’t waste another second and orders the men to help him immediately. Kai finally breathes and relaxes as Jongin is carried into a hut. The Chief has grown so much older now, but he still looks stern and powerful enough to smack Kai’s arse with that thick staff of his.

The man who had brought them here kneels beside Kai and says something to the Chief who replies in a spiteful tone. The Chief then smacks Kai’s head with the staff twice and Kai winces in pain, but doesn’t retaliate.

“Get up,” the Chief says in a cold voice and Kai rises to his full height. Only then does he notice Ælfþryð and Ælfnoð standing behind their father. Ælfnoð is grinning at Kai and his face is still so young, so beautiful as the last time Kai had seen it, kissed all over it while Ælfnoð screamed his name. Yeah, has Kai ever mentioned he has a big junk? Ælfþryð, however, has her arm hooked around some other guy. She must have gotten married. Good for her. But damn, her breasts are still so—

“Ouch!” He is snapped back to reality when the Chief prods his staff into Kai’s chest.

“I kill you!”

Kai raises his palms in defeat. “I will never even look at your children, I swear. I swear,” and yet his eyes already wandering to Ælfþryð’s chest again before the shift to Ælfnoð’s shy smirk. That earns him another slam on the side of his head. “Ow! Stop that!”

The Chief rambles something in his native language and pats the tip of the staff on the cuts on Kai’s shoulder and arm, clicking his tongue. He then says something the other man and walks away.

Kai shakes his head, rubbing his head where he is hit. “Come,” the man who had helped them says with a gentle smile. “We’ll eat.”

“Eat?” Kai’s eyes widen. “He’s going to let me eat?”

“Yes. Also, get clothes,” he playfully eyes Ælfnoð and waves his hand at the boy who is still staring at Kai. “ _Go in,_ ” Kai understands what he tells Ælfnoð to do. “My name is Finnr. Come, brother,” he pats on Kai’s back and ushers him to the hut. Kai follows him while his heart keeps pounding in his chest. He can only hope Jongin will be safe.

“Thank you,” he says to Finnr before he looks back and winks at Ælfnoð who is clinging to the pole of the hut. His face instantly turns red and he runs into the hut. “Will he be all right?”

Finnr nods his head. “He will. Sit.”

Kai takes his seat by the fire as a woman hands him some stew in a coconut shell while another brings him a tunic to wear. Kai pulls the tunic on before sipping straight from the shell. “Oh, my. That hits the spot,” he hums when the nettle soup drops in his stomach.

Finnr settles down on the log across him. “To where, brother?”

Kai licks his lips and drains the shell before speaking again. “The Cascade of Signum.”

Finnr’s eyes widen as his eyebrows arch. “With Prince?”

“Yes.”

Finnr is decent enough to not to drill Kai for reasons.

“I got separated from my friends. I have to wait for them here. They’ll have to pass this woods.” Kai says after a moment.

“I’ll speak to Guðleifr,” Finnr assures him.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

 

            ☬ ☬ ☬

 

Kai rouses to the sound of the woods clattering. His eyes flutter open and he sighs when he sees the hut’s roof hovering above him. Finnr had let him sleep in his hut when Kai turned drowsy at dawn. When he sits up, he realizes he had slept through the morning. It is already dusk outside and night is descending upon them. He must have slept so well for the first time in his life that he hadn’t noticed the oil spread on his cuts.

When his vision clears, he notices the svelte, slender figure in the hut. Kai groans sleepily and rubs his eyes with the hilt of his palms before drawing his fingertips over the oil on the cut on his arm.

“Oh,” Ælfnoð rasps as he hurries to Kai’s side. Kai inhales the scent of the oil. It’s Yarrow flower oil with honey.

He glances up to Ælfnoð and smiles a sleepy smile. “Thanks,” he whispers and Ælfnoð nods his head, returning Kai’s smile.

“ _I worry you,”_ he says. That’s what it directly translates to, but it actually means _I miss you._

Kai stands up and grabs his tunic and sword from the bedframe. The bed is made from straws, but it’s still more comfortable than Kai’s own bed back home. After pulling the tunic on, he ruffles Ælfnoð’s hair. The boy has grown taller, but he is still so much shorter than Kai. Ælfnoð’s eyes are glimmering as he looks at Kai. His cheeks are as pink as the petals of a wild rose. Kai smiles, cups a side of his face and tilts his head before pressing his lips against Ælfnoð’s soft lips. It is a chaste, _hello_ kiss. Ælfnoð grins against Kai’s mouth and kisses the skin beneath Kai’s lower lip before pulling back. He then hands Kai a razor blade. Kai inspects the knife.

“ _Shave_ ,” Ælfnoð says, dragging his fingers along the stubble on Kai’s jaw. With that, the boy leaves Kai alone in the hut. Neatening his hair, Kai rushes out of the hut. The women are cooking as the men help them with the fire. Kai silently makes his way to the water well and fetches some water before he starts to shave.

“We wake up with the sun,” he hears Finnr’s voice before he turns around to meet Finnr’s smirk.

“Yeah, sorry. I haven’t slept well for so long,” Kai sighs, finishing up with the shaving. He pockets the knife and takes the yam from Finnr. “Thanks.”

As he fills his stomach, he follows Finnr back to the huts.

A sudden and brutal thwack on his butt jolts Kai forward and he almost spins around to plant a boot in the attacker’s face, but he stops when he realizes it’s the Chief. The old man is scowling at Kai. “Kahuna,” Kai sighs and bows. That earns him a spank on the back of his head. “Ow! Why do you keep doing that?!”

He curses at Kai and spits to the ground before chasing Kai a couple of steps back with a wave of his staff. Finnr and everyone around them are laughing. Especially the children.

“He hates you,” Finnr says, chuckling.

“Yeah, you’d think I haven’t noticed that?” Kai grunts, rubbing the back of his head.

“He is waking up,” Finnr points to the hut Jongin was brought into last night.

“What?!” Kai almost chokes on the yam. He wipes his hand on his pants and hurries to the hut. He enters it after shoving the curtaining rag aside. He finds an old woman burning a bundle of sage before she looks to him.

She wobbles to Kai and waves the smoke of the sage in his face before saying something Kai doesn’t fully comprehend. Then she shoves him aside before she storms out of the hut. Kai heaves a sigh and walks over to the bed. Jongin is sleeping.

Kai perches on the edge of the bed and surveys Jongin’s face. He isn’t so pale anymore. Some colour has returned to his face and his lips are pink again. Kai notices how long his eyelashes are and fights the urge to pinch Jongin’s nose, yearning to see it wriggle and scrunch again.

He’s sleeping.

There’s no harm.

Kai bites his tongue and raises a finger to the tip of Jongin’s nose. He touches it very lightly and quickly retrieves his hand. Holy Lord, why is he being like this? Kai wants to hit himself. But he also wants to touch Jongin’s nose again. Or maybe bite it. One day. Someday, he’ll do that. For now, he lets Jongin sleep peacefully.

Just when he decides to leave, Jongin stirs and moans softly. “Kai?” he mumbles and Kai catches his hand.

“Hey,” Kai says as Jongin slowly opens his eyes. He lays still for a moment and his nose finally scrunches!

“What’s the smell?” he asks in a hoarse voice.

“Oh, it’s sage and… something else. I don’t know. Are you thirsty?”

Jongin nods his head as he tries to sit up. Kai hands him the carapace holding water he found on the floor beside the bed. “Here,” he says, pressing the edge of the carapace to Jongin’s quivering lips.

Jongin holds onto the shell and drinks all of the water. “Where are we?” he asks after quenching his thirst.

“The Watergayte Woods,” Kai settles the carapace back on the floor and helps Jongin to sit up properly. “We’ll wait here until Yixing and Kris catch up.”

Jongin rubs his hands all over his face and lets out a heavy sigh. “I’ve really troubled you, haven’t I?” he sighs, his hand stroking the straws on the bed as if it’s searching for Kai’s hand. Kai gives it to him and Jongin curls his fingers protectively around Kai’s.

“No. Not really. I was just so…” Scared? Terrified? Downright embarrassing? “Panicky,” he mutters, watching how Jongin’s fingers lace around his.

“Must have been the rain,” Jongin murmurs in a low voice as he leans closer towards Kai’s warmth.

“Yeah,” Kai laughs nervously, looking into the white spread in Jongin’s dark eyes. A side of Jongin’s shirt is sagging, exposing the sharp shoulder bones that Kai had his lips pressed onto last night. “No more rain for you, Your Majesty.”

“I heard you call my name last night,” Jongin exhales as his eyelids fall heavy. He presses a hand to Kai’s chest and he lightly fists Kai’s tunic there.

Kai licks his lips when he sees Jongin deliberately part his lips, his hand firmly wrapped around Kai’s. “Jongin?” Kai breathes.

Jongin leans in even closer. Kai swallows and wonders what he’s doing. Jongin’s lips almost brush against Kai’s bottom lip and then he realizes what Jongin is about to do.

Kai springs up to his feet and stumbles back with his heart jumping to his throat. “What the hell are you doing?!” he yelps in a raspy gasp, eyes almost popping out.

Jongin’s eyes turn as red as his cheeks and he looks even more traumatized than Kai. His face wilts altogether and he is just staring into nothing like he has been slapped by a ghost. Or worse, rejected by the first man he probably wanted to kiss. Kai, on the other hand, wants to sink into the ground right there and then. He leaves Jongin that instant. He runs out of the hut and doesn’t stop until he leaps over the fence and disappears into the woods.


	13. Chapter 13

His insides burn as though they are on fire. His blood flows like the molten lava and all that Kai can do to breathe is gasp for air as he sprints across the trees, galloping over uproots and logs, and runs as fast his feet can carry him. When he crashes to the ground on his knees, a bestial scream breaks out of him and he howls his heart out, screaming so loud that birds flee from the canopies. Then he plants his hands into the soil and pants. There is no way of telling whether it is anger or confusion that is surging through his veins, making his heart pound.

Maybe he is wrong. Maybe he had interpreted the whole situation wrong. Maybe Jongin, his own brother, the Prince was _not_ trying to kiss him! For crying out loud, where has it gone wrong?! Even if Kai is willing to overlook their blood bond, Jongin is still a bloody prince! He is the future King of Servanya. And yes, Kai is practically a prince himself, but Jongin doesn’t know that. To Jongin, Kai is just a shoddy Hunter with no proper moral codes. How could he even _think_ of kissing or even touching someone like Kai?!

A thousand tangled thoughts run through Kai’s head as he clutches the damp loam of the forest floor. Jongin’s horrified and embarrassed face upon being refused is still fresh behind Kai’s eyelids.

As he retreats to sit against a tree, he leans his head back on the trunk and exhales exasperatedly. He should have been the level-headed one over there. He should have talked to Jongin and told him that it is wrong for them to… do that. But instead, he ran away. Perhaps Jongin is fazed by the fever. Maybe he never intended to kiss Kai. Maybe he was smelling Kai

Kai tries to come up with a number of excuses to rule out the kissing option, but no matter how hard he tries, he ends up believing Jongin indeed was about to kiss him. Why did he pull away? Why didn’t he just let him kiss him? Kai closes his eyes and thinks about it. For starters, Jongin is his brother, but Jongin isn’t aware of that. In addition to that, he’s the Prince. Imagine what the Queen, their mother would do if she comes to know about this.

Why was Jongin trying to kiss him?

Kai groans and buries his head in his folded arms over his knees. What the hell had he done for Jongin to do that? Perhaps Jongin was just thanking him? But come on, he’s a prince. No prince would kiss a filthy Hunter to thank him.

He sits there for hours until the night is rich and black. He can hear a faint song or a chant from the village. He should head back. He probably shouldn’t have left the Prince alone. But how is he supposed to even face Jongin now? Heaving a sigh, he scrubs his face with his rough palms and stares into the darkness. Then he hears the melodious ditty.

The twigs on the ground snap as the fallen leaves crunch. Kai jolts up to his feet and draws his sword out. The ditty continues.

_“Afar to the mount they ride,_

_By black desires one’s light can’t hide,_

_While the heart of a brother beats as wild,_

_The other’s be athirst for lust as it cried.”_

A short figure steps away from the tree and Kai grips the hilt of his sword. “Who are you,” he asks the old woman in rags and a hood.

She looks up to him and grins. Her teeth and her smile are black. A jolt shivers down Kai’s spine as she slides closer.

“Stay where you are, you old hag,” Kai spits at her.

_“To heaven you shan’t wrawl,_

_For that the one you love will fall,_

_He is the anchor to his brother’s soul,_

_Who shall not see the daylight’s call.”_

Kai’s heart hammers against his chest as he stares at the hag. He lowers his sword involuntary while his blood runs cold. “Who are you?” His voice escapes his lips in a raspy whisper.

The hag stops before him and smiles up at him.

_“The sightless anathema mightn’t be washed,_

_For the Signum is nothing, but a hogwash,_

_Naught can heal his sight,_

_But your love for him just might.”_

She raises a wrinkled finger to Kai’s chest. “What are you saying, hag?” Kai mutters with the fine hairs on his nape sticking up.

_“This shall be my last augury,_

_Your end will be bittery,_

_His corse your arms will carry,_

_With his death, your warmth you will also bury.”_

“Whose death?” Kai demands, but the hag cackles out a laugh. She spins around and her robe flies across Kai’s eyes. When he opens his eyes again, the hag had disappeared. The sword slips from his grip and drops to the ground as Kai grimly stares at nothing. His lips turn dry and his throat tightens. The hag has given him auguries. But Kai isn’t witty enough to decipher songs.

_The sightless anathema._

_The anchor to his brother’s soul._

_Naught can heal his sight._

_His corse your arms will carry._

Kai rubs his forehead and picks up the sword before he starts toward the village.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

He doesn’t know what he expected, but he certainly hasn’t anticipated this. When he leaps over the fence, he finds the children and women dancing, cavorting around the fires as they sing a merry tune. The men are cheering as they eat. The Kahuna surprisingly looks blithe and beside him on the log, Jongin is smiling, cupping a coconut shell in his hands. Kai swallows the lump in his throat and scans the place for Finnr.

“My brother!” Finnr exclaims with a funny grin etched to his face when Kai walks over to him. “Join me!” he hands Kai a shell.

Kai inspects the content. The murky liquid smells like a local fermented juice. “What is this?” he asks. Usually, Kai is all in for beer or any sort of alcohol. But he needs to keep his head clear with Jongin around.

“Uh… _Honey palm wine_.” Finnr claps a hand to Kai’s back and yanks him to sit on the log. Kai offers an appreciative smile and takes a swig of the sweetly bitter drink. He looks to Jongin, hoping the boy isn’t drinking even a sip of this. He isn’t. He’s talking to the Chief. In the Watergayte language. Rather fluently.

Kai’s eyes widen. He also hopes nobody notices the resemblance between them. He yanks his hair down his forehead to hide some of his face. Jongin is warm. He is a prince, of course, he’s warm. Even the Chief is smiling and entertaining the blind Prince. Some of the children are looming over Jongin, touching his soft hair and skin.

Kai drains the coconut shell, quaffing the wine, unable to take the old hag and the auguries out of his head. Finnr turns his attention to the woman who sits on his lap. Must be his wife. Then he feels the gentle grip on his shoulders and turns his head around to see Ælfnoð smiling at him from behind. Ælfnoð’s hands steadily knead Kai’s shoulders and neck, allowing him a soothing calmness. Kai smirks at the boy who strokes his hair at the nape before massaging Kai’s shoulders thoroughly. Kai lets him and glances back to Jongin.

“ _Come inside,_ ” Kai hears and feels Ælfnoð’s whisper on his ear. Blood swirls in his loins with the heat surging into his shoulders from Ælfnoð’s fingertips that brush against his skin under the tunic. Kai could already imagine the deep blush on Ælfnoð’s cheeks as he moans and screams Kai’s name. Kai lets out a shaky breath and looks to Ælfnoð. The boy’s piercing blue eyes are locked with Kai’s. He brushes his lips to Kai’s temples, luring him even more. Ælfnoð slides a hand into Kai’s tunic and draws his warm palm over Kai’s chest. “ _I want you._ ” Ælfnoð breathes out and Kai almost groans, because he wants to slam the boy down to the ground right there and then, and ravage Ælfnoð’s beautiful body.

And then he recalls Jongin’s hot breath on his lips.

Kai staggers to his feet and almost stumbles upon the fire. Ælfnoð blinks, rising to his full height. Scratching the back of his neck, Kai turns away and starts towards Jongin and the Chief, who fortunately hasn’t noticed his son seducing Kai. For the second time!

“Your Highness,” Kai says, lowering down to a knee. Jongin’s smile falls apart immediately as he turns to Kai. His blind eyes look worried and hesitant.

“Kai?” he mutters, frowning. “I’m so sorry about—”

“I don’t wish to talk about it,” Kai’s tone might have been a little too harsh that Jongin’s face withers.

“Oh.” He hangs his head.

“If you’re all right, I’d like to leave you for a moment.”

Jongin’s lips are trembling as his eyes glisten. He looks so humiliated that he might cry. “Okay.”

Kai stands up.

“Kai?” he calls in a low voice.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

Jongin is frowning even deeper. “You can call me Jongin.”

“You’re a prince. I don’t have to call you Jongin,” Kai snaps and Jongin cringes. “It’s about time you realized that, Your Highness.”

Jongin rises and gives a hurt look as his purses his lips into a thin line. His eyes turn red. “I’m sorry.”

“Princes don’t apologize to a servant. Princes don’t apologize to anyone. You’re a sodding prince, so act like one.” Kai hisses. Jongin pulls a hand up to Kai’s abdomen and presses his palm into it. Kai holds his breath as his heart clenches.

“You’re mad,” Jongin whispers pathetically. The Chief bounds up to his feet and scowls in Kai’s way before he walks away. “I didn’t… mean to.”

“I know,” Kai sighs. “I know you didn’t mean to.” He pulls Jongin’s hand off his abdomen. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have someone to fuck,” he says. That instant, Jongin turns his face away.

“W-what?”

“What? Am I not allowed to sleep with anyone just because I work for your arse?”

“Why are you saying such mean things?” Jongin glares sadly. 

Kai groans and shakes his head. Kai’s heart swells when Jongin drops back to the log and doesn’t look up at Kai again. This is good. Kai desperately needs the distance from Jongin. And more important, Jongin needs it.

Kai turns and starts to stomp away before someone cries out. He looks in the direction of the yawl and his stomach jumps to his chest when his eyes flies to Yixing and Kris outside the fence along with the three horses.

“Kris! Yixing!” he shouts and bursts into a sprint towards them.

“Kai!” they scream in unison upon spotting Kai.


	14. Chapter 14

“We almost got killed by the Fire Ants!” Yixing cries as he jumps into his pants.

“He’s exaggerating,” Kris scoffs, combing his fingers through his hair while Kai pulls his shirt on and laces it. “The Moss Slugs, though,” he whistles admirably.

Looks like Kris and Yixing have had quite an adventure as well. Ants and slugs. While Kai had to jump over a cliff, painfully watch the rain soak Jongin’s near-transparent shirt, grapple his arms around Jongin’s hips, escape a Mushroom Ghoul, press his bare body to Jongin’s burning one and was almost kissed by his own brother. Kai is never telling his friends any of that. But he should probably talk to them about the old hag’s auguries.

“We should leave,” Kai says, buckling the sword sheath belt around his waist and pushes his hair back. “While it’s still morning.”

“I’ll go see if the Prince is ready,” Yixing chimes excitedly and hurries out of the hut.

“Are you sure you don’t want to rest another day?” Kai asks Kris, who’s pulling his boots on.

“We’re fine,” he assures Kai with a smirk. “We had a good meal and a good night’s sleep. We’re fine. I see you had your fun with Ælfnoð last night,” he winks.

Kai rolls his eyes and sighs. Yes, he might have gone a little overboard with Ælfnoð last night when everyone was baked and dancing. But he had done nothing, but just let Ælfnoð suck him off when they left the others for the water well. And the whole time, all that Kai could think of was what Jongin would think if he knew about it and why does he even care about what Jongin would think.

“You’re not going to believe me if I told you I didn’t bonk him, are you?”

Kris smiles sheepishly. “Nope.”

Kai shrugs and grabs the map from the straw bed. “It’s the Pythoness’ Lair up next on our path. But is it past the Stygian Inselberg?”

“No. But it’s nearby.”

“Darn it,” Kai hisses. “We’ll have to be careful, then.”

“What do you think the Pythoness looks like?”

“I don’t know and I don’t wish to find out. Come on.”

When they exit the hut, Kai greets the clear blue sky and young morning sun with a fulfilled smile. The people are busy as always with their everyday chores and Kai walks over to Finnr who is feeding the horses, including Sylvaticus, Nitidus and Clarus, and that’s where Jongin is—stroking Nitidus’ ivory mane with a forbearing smile etched on his Rosé pink lips. A day ago, he had those lips so close to his own.

Kai shakes the lewd thoughts off and greets Finnr. “Morn’n.”

Finnr bows his head to reply the greeting. “He likes horse,” he says, glancing over to Jongin whose smile has vanished, but he silently continues to brush Nitidus’ shoulder, pressing a side of his face to the horse’s nose.

“He does,” Kris says instead, grinning in Jongin’s way as he slaps Kai’s back. Yixing is saddling the horses up. “Good morning, my Prince.”

“Good morning, Kris,” Jongin mutters, smiling again. Kai can tell Jongin has taken a bath. “Did you sleep well?”

Kris presses a hand to the small of Jongin’s back and Kai involuntary clenches his fists before he realizes he’s fisting his hands. “I did, Your Majesty.”

Jongin smiles even wider as Kris retrieves his hand from his back. “Are we leaving soon?”

“We’re leaving now,” Kai spits and walks over to Sylvaticus. The black beast whinnies when Kai touches his nose. “Hey, there. Missed me?” Kai chuckles and Sylvaticus nudges his nose into Kai’s chest.

“Did… you sleep well, Kai?” Jongin asks in a very gentle voice and Kai glances to him with a scowl.

“Not at all, Your Highness. Oh, he kept me up all night,” Kai scoffs.

“Who?” he seems surprised.

Kris leans in to Jongin’s ear and whispers, “The Chief’s boy that Kai ruts like an animal.”

Under normal circumstances, Kai would have thrown a wood at Kris’ head. But upon seeing the miserable frown cross Jongin’s eyebrows, Kai smiles gratefully. “I sure do,” he sighs.

“I pack some _food_ for you. All of you,” says Finnr.

“Thank you, Finnr,” Kai humbly offers his gratitude and accepts Finnr’s embrace.

“ _You,_ ” the Kahuna’s voice booms before Kai turns to face the old man walking towards him with the aid of his staff. He has a brutal scowl plastered to his wrinkled face. “Don’t come back,” he spits, halting before Kai and pats Kai’s head with the staff.

Kai sneers at the old man and nods. “Fine. Thank you for your hospitality.”

The Chief doesn’t reply and turns to Jongin. A wild smile forms on his face and Kai’s eyes narrow. “ _Thank you, my Prince,_ ” the Chief says in his own language, clasping his hands to Jongin’s shoulders and Jongin bows.

Jongin says something and Kai doesn’t comprehend it. The Chief then hands presses a tiny carved piece of wood with a string attached to it in Jongin’s hand. Must be a talisman. “ _Thank you, Kahuna Guðleifr,_ ” Jongin says and pulls the talisman over his head and around his neck.

The Chief faces Kai again with a grim expression. “ _Good_ boy,” he points his staff to Jongin. “ _Bad_ boy,” he knocks the staff into Kai’s chest.

“Understood,” Kai snorts and mounts Sylvaticus. He has decided Jongin will not be riding with him.

“Do you want to ride him, Your Majesty?” Yixing asks, patting Nitidus’ head and Jongin nods. Good. Let Jongin ride with Yixing. But why does that broil Kai’s blood and why does he scowl at Yixing gripping the sides of Jongin’s waist as he helps the Prince climb onto the horse?

Kai blinks and looks away. Their satchels are packed again and his bow and arrows are safely returned to him. Kai eyes his friends and bows his head. They bid the Watergayte village and its people goodbye as their horses gallop out into the woods.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

Kai doesn’t even spare the Prince a single look until night has fallen as he rides ahead of them, leading the way. He talks to Yixing and Kris, picking up on a light banter or two, but whenever Jongin says something, Kai ignores him. Eventually, Jongin stops talking altogether.

“Shall we rest here before crossing the river?” Yixing asks when they reach the River of Portania, one of the longest flowing rivers in Servanya.

“Yeah, might as well,” Kai sighs. The horses need to rest anyway and the Prince probably would want to stretch his spine.

They dismount and tie the reins of their horses to the trees. Kai takes a moment to feed and brush Sylvaticus. Yixing and Kris settle next to each other on the ground with waxy leaves bundled up into pillows under their heads. Kai doesn’t bother to check on Jongin who is probably sitting by Nitidus.

“Where’re you going?” Kris asks when Kai starts to wander past the trees.

“Take a piss,” Kai says and proceeds in the familiar path.

“Kai,” Jongin’s voice startles him and he spins around to meet Jongin’s pathetic frown. “What I did was so wrong. I… never mean to hurt anyone. Please, speak to me,” he’s almost begging as his eyes glistened with tears, but they are too stubborn to let the tears fall.

Kai wants to turn around and walk away, but he doesn’t. “It’s okay,” he says. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know what you were doing.”

Jongin’s cheeks are so red that under the moonlight, he looks like a shy rosebud. “I did,” he whispered.

“What?” Kai asks, confused.

“I did… know what I was doing,” he’s blushing so hard that his face might explode. But his eyes are in so much pain and misery. Kai goes numb for a second. “I wanted to,” he breathes out, blindly taking a step closer.

“You wanted to what, Jongin?” Kai snaps furiously, balling his hands into fists and Jongin stops in his tracks. “To _kiss_ me?!” he hisses under his breath. Jongin hangs his head.

“Is that such a bad thing?” his voice cracks. “I know that you like lads. You bed lads. So why can’t I—”

“For fuck’s sake, you can’t!”

“Why?!”

“Because…” Kai swallows the lump in his throat. His tight chest is making it hard for him to breathe. “Because you just shouldn’t, okay?! I’m not the kind of guy you’d want to go around kissing, Your Majesty.”

“How about _I_ decide what _I_ want?” he glowers. “If you fancy other lads, why not me?” he falls silent again. “Is it because… I’m blind? Is it because I’m cursed?”

“God damn it,” Kai groans, rubbing his forehead. “You’re just… confused. You don’t want me. Trust me. Please, don’t make this any harder than it already is. Go back.” He doesn’t wait for Jongin’s response as he turns on his heel and walks away.

Kai knows what’s in Jongin’s head. He just refuses to acknowledge it. After some struts and moments, he sees the faint blue light in the ferns. A smile reflexively takes form on his lips as he wanders further. A pink light flutters past him. There are many parts in the forest where one can find a Glow Piskies ground. They are tiny pixies whose wings illuminate all sorts of colours. Kai doesn’t bother them as he silently walks past them. It’s beautiful. Colours flicker everywhere he turns as the Glow Piskies settle in leaves and ferns to sleep.

Compared to this, the Wakening Village is nothing but dirt.

Kai comes to the pebbled shore of the River of Portania and he draws in a long breath. After shedding his clothes, he dives into the river. The water is cold as it washes the muck off his skin and strokes the strands of his hair clean.

When he rises to the flowing surface, he gasps in a breath and pants hard as his eyes land on Jongin, who is clinging to a tree with a side of his face pinned to the bark and eyes fixed at nothing. He is crying. The tears trickle down his unblemished cheeks unchecked and collect by his chin. A purple Glow Piskie hovers over his shoulder before a blue one flits over to him. A few more Glow Piskies surround Jongin and they start to sing a soft melody. Kai’s eyes widen as he floats on the river, watching the Glow Piskies comfort the Prince. The Glow Piskies rarely sing and they definitely never do it for the solace of a human’s anguish.

Kai clenches his eyes shut for a moment and sucks in a shaky breath. Then running his fingers through his wet hair to push it back, he climbs out of the river and marches straight to Jongin.

The Glow Piskies flutter away when Kai clasps his hands to the sides of Jongin’s face, cupping his cheeks. Jongin sightless eyes pop out and he almost gasps. The water rivulets trickle down Kai’s face, chest and back as the tears on Jongin’s cheeks. Jongin parts his trembling lips and presses his palms to Kai’s wet chest. Pinning Jongin against the tree, Kai smashes their lips together. Jongin falls weak in his hands as Kai’s wet, hot mouth swipes across his plush lips. Kai’s head spins when he realizes Jongin is not kissing him back because he doesn’t know how to. The boy’s virgin lips are untouched and untainted. He forces into the kiss, unable to hold back and Jongin shudders against his chest as his hands slide to Kai’s damp back. He buries his fingernails into the skin as Kai kisses his lower lip, gently savouring it as he sucks it softly. Kai loses himself into the kiss when Jongin finally kisses him back hesitantly and slowly.

Kai’s fingers grip Jongin’s hip while a hand cups his cheek as Jongin tries to kiss him back with just as much force, but he couldn’t. His eyes are closed tightly and his breath is quivering.

Just when Jongin parts his lips to exhale a breath, Kai pulls away completely. “Is that what you wanted?” Kai hisses and Jongin looks like he might faint. His lips are swollen and red. His brings a hand to Kai’s chest to brace himself from falling to the ground. “Are you happy now?” Kai asks, not expecting an answer. “That’s all you wanted, right?” With that, Kai picks up his clothes to get dressed and grabs Jongin’s arm before he hauls him back to the horses, Kris and Yixing.


	15. Chapter 15

 

(Just a quick sketch by me lol)

Kai laces his shirt up, leaving the chest open as he heads back to their resting spot. He is no longer holding Jongin’s arm, but Jongin is silently following him. The way Kai sees it Jongin is infatuated at most or smitten to say the least. He’s being foolish and his foolishness is driving Kai over the edge of sanity. The soothing warmth of Jongin’s mouth still lingers on his lips and everywhere Jongin’s skin had touched burns. However, he is trying to shove the untoward thoughts and feelings to the farthest corner of his mind. He had kissed Jongin so that the Prince would just leave him be, so that he would be satisfied since that was all that he seemed to have wanted. To kiss him. But had Kai been fair to him? He had kissed Jongin, he thought he’d given what Jongin wanted, but is it what Jongin really wants? To have an experimental kiss with a bloke? Kai isn’t even sure what the Prince’s angle is. All that he knows is that Jongin was crying because he had denied the Prince something.

He lets out a sigh and turns his head halfway around. His eyes enlarge when he realizes Jongin is no longer following him. He has come to a halt and has his head hung.

“What are you doing?” Kai asks, dragging his feet back to Jongin.

Jongin doesn’t raise his head, but Kai sees how deep his blush is. “I get it,” he mutters under his breath and Kai’s eyes narrow as his eyebrows knit together. “I understand.”

“What do you understand?”

Jongin raises his chin and stares over Kai’s shoulder. He swallows before continuing. “You were trying to make cite a fact. I should not have made a huge ado over… over that,” his voice breaks. “You… kissed me to prove that it is not…” he trails off, lowering his head again.

Kai’s heart swells when he perceives what Jongin means. “It isn’t, Your Highness,” he says. “It isn’t the most wonderful thing in the world. It isn’t the silver lining of every grey cloud. It isn’t what humans love to romanticize. It’s just a kiss.”

“It’s just a kiss to you, Kai,” he stammers as he whispers with tears brimming in his eyes. “You kissed me like you didn’t even want it.”

“I _didn’t_ want it!” Kai rasps and deep within, he knows he is lying. He wanted it. He still wants it when he looks to Jongin’s red lips again. “You’re the Prince and as your… servant, I will serve you.”

“Stop,” Jongin croaks out in a whimper. “Stop saying that. I know I’m a prince. I’m still a boy. I still have a heart and I am capable of loving, too.”

Kai shudders and for the first time, he is glad Jongin is sightless. Otherwise, the Prince would be able to see how ridiculously shocked and paralyzed Kai is. “Look, Your Highness—”

“My name is Jongin,” he cries, glaring painfully now. “I don’t need you to kiss me just because you feel as though it is your duty to make me happy.”

Kai clenches his jaw and fists. “Why _should_ I kiss you, then?”

Jongin falls silent again as his lips begin to quiver. “Only because you want to.”

That surprises a laugh out of Kai and Jongin looks stunned, if not even more miserable. “Your Highness, you need to understand one thing. I don’t do romance. Men like me don’t like to have any weakness. So, there is no room for romance, love or such lecherous affairs.”

That somehow maddens Jongin and he scowls. “Love is _not_ a weakness,” he spits furiously and perhaps this is the first time Kai has ever seen him this infuriated.

Kai grits his teeth and lurches forward. His hands come up to the collar of Jongin’s shirt and he hauls him close. “If you could see, you’d be looking at the man who grew up without a single drop of love. _Love_ hasn’t got me anywhere. _Love_ didn’t bring me back to my family. _Love_ didn’t make my mother look at me with affection and longing. I don’t believe in such rubbish. And if you _do_ , I am sorry for you, Your Majesty.”

He shoves Jongin back and the Prince staggers a step as he gapes in horror. “What do you… mean?” he asks, breathlessly.

“I was found in the sodding woods by a Shikari who was kind enough to take me in and raise me as his own after my own father tossed me away. He’d give me a pat on the head when I shoot my target in the eye. And that’s the closest to affection or love that I’ve ever gotten. I lived off scraps and garbage. People sneered and spat on me while I dived through the trashes in the ginnels, looking for something to eat. Then I just… broke my bones, bent backwards, learning everything I could from the Shikari. Eventually, even he died, killed by a marauder. I was alone again. For very long and then I met Kris and Yixing who finally showed me what family might look like. What having a family might _feel_ like. My father, my mother and if I had any brothers or sisters, they wouldn’t want me. I cannot _love_ , Jongin. If you could look at me, you’d be disgusted. I am more used to the scars I have on my body, than I am used to feeling any love.”

Jongin gently closes his eyes for a second and draws in a shaky breath. Then he pulls his eyes open and extends an arm. His hand easily finds Kai’s shirt by the chest and he grips it. “ _I_ would want you,” he whispers as a bead of tear trickles down the corner of his eye.

Kai wraps his hand over Jongin’s that’s fisting his shirt and lets out exasperated breath. He hasn’t foreseen this. He never thought something like this would happen. He couldn’t believe Jongin would say such things. His brother, his twin, his Prince. If he had known, he never would have even agreed to take Jongin to the Signum.

“You don’t know what you want, Jongin,” Kai exhales, cupping a side of Jongin’s face and gently swipes his thumb over Jongin’s cheekbone.

Jongin’s hand slowly glides up his chest. “You think I have been loved? Do you think I have been allowed to love the way I want to love?” His fingers follow the trail of laces and stop where the shirt’s unlaced. His warm, calm breath grazes Kai’s chin as he skims the old scar on Kai’s collarbone with his fingertips. Kai wants to stroke Jongin’s hair, just card his fingers through the silky strands, so he does. He gently brushes Jongin’s hair on the side of his head as Jongin leans in and presses a kiss to the scar on his collarbone. Kai clenches his eyes tight and swallows the lump in his throat as Jongin’s hot lips leave a beautiful print on the scar. They say scars don’t heal. But Kai feels like Jongin’s kiss has just healed it.

 “Jongin,” Kai murmurs and pulls back. “I’m sorry. But I can’t. And you shan’t.”

Jongin pins Kai with a disconsolate gaze as though Kai had shattered his soul.

“Come on. We should go back and get some sleep,” he curls a hand around Jongin’s elbow, but Jongin harshly pulls his arm free. Kai grinds his teeth. “I swear, I will leave you here.”

“Leave me, then,” he slurs, turning his face away with a sad glower on his face.

“Really? You think I won’t? Just stop making things so difficult for me.”

“I’m not forcing you to do anything.”

“Fine, suit yourself!” Kai spits and turns on his heel before he starts to walk away, leaving Jongin alone in the woods. He doesn’t look back and keeps marching forth with his hands tightened into fists at his sides. He could just spare Jongin and himself all this trouble if he just tells him that they are brothers—twins at that! But Kai isn’t sure he ever wants Jongin to find that out.

He comes to halt and tries to calm his breathing. His heart is hammering against his chest and he wants to scream out loud. He reminisces the kiss again and again. “Fuck,” he hisses under his breath, wanting to strangle himself. He had kissed Jongin to end this, but he isn’t sure he wants to end any of it. He wants to feel Jongin’s warmth against his skin. He wants to bathe in Jongin’s scent. He wants to taste all of Jongin.

He snaps out of it when he feels the subtle shifts in the ferns and the soil. He holds his breath in and freezes completely. Something moves in the bushes, but Kai doesn’t act at once. He stands still, feeling the wind shift. The moment he feels the thud on the ground behind him, he draws the sword out with a sharp and quick move, and spins around, driving his sword straight into the tall man’s chest.

The man spurts and coughs out thick, black blood with Kai’s sword driven into his chest. Kai realizes what the tall, huge-built, man is almost immediately. He is as black as the night with eyes as bright as the moon.

He pulls his sword out and stomps his boot on the man’s chest, sending him flying to the ground. There is a string of mouse skulls around the dead man’s next and he has a bone pierced through his cheeks, across his mouth. It’s a Stygian Savage. It must have been following Kai and since all Stygians belong to the night, they are very good at remaining in the shadows, _as_ the shadows. Their skins are said to have turned completely black as they used to reside and bathe in the Stygian River of Death, another Hell-On-Earth. Not all Stygians are savages. The Black Stygians are from the better part of the Stygian Inselberg and the Stygian Savages are outlaws and brigands, exiled from the Inselberg and they live off eating animal and human flesh after serving their self-selected King.

Kai’s heart almost jumps out of his throat as he bursts into a brutal sprint, gripping the sword. “Jongin!” he yells as loud as he could, galloping over the logs. “Jongin!”

“Kai!” Jongin cries, but the cry is so distant. Kai loses his mind for a moment when he comes to a jerky stop and frantically looks around, trying to find which direction the cry had come from. “Kai!”

He turns to his left and bolts past the trees as fast as his legs could carry him. His body is screaming in horror as blood pounds in his ear. For the first time, Kai realizes what real fear feels like. And he is scared for Jongin. “Jongin!” he screams again with tears blinding his sight for a second as he runs, leaps and vaults over everything that is on his path.

He picks up the pace of his sprint when he spots the ground of Stygian Savages. His lungs burn as he gasps of air, but he doesn’t stop even for a second and dashes after the group.

“Kai!” he can hear Jongin, but he couldn’t spot him in the group.

One of the huge Savages turns and runs in Kai’s direction with a spear. Kai clenches his jaw and races towards the Savage. He swings the sword in his hand before he leaps off the ground and steps onto a tree. As he bounds off the tree, jolting over the Savage, he strikes his sword across the Savage’s neck and lands back on the ground. All that fills his head is Jongin.

He crashes the ground, diving into roots and soil when a spear plunged through his shoulder before a Savage slams his back with a broken tree trunk. Before Kai could rise back to his feet, the shaft of the spear is rammed against the back of head and the tree trunk sends him rolling to the ground when the Savage bangs it against his chest. It hurts, it hurts so badly. Kai is sure his insides are bleeding and he coughs out a mouthful of blood. He could barely move as his eyes fall heavy. He hears a faint cry of his name and grits his teeth, clenching the sword.

He tries to push himself up to his feet. He has to stand up. He has to get to Jongin. One of the two Savages give Kai a stomp in the face, sending him back to the ground and that is when Kai hears the monstrous neigh. He blinks his blurry eyes and sees his black horse rising on his hind legs before Sylvaticus stomps on the Savages. Kai bloodlessly smiles at the horse as he pants. The two Savages’ heads roll on the ground when Kris and Yixing strike them from behind.

Sylvaticus prances and neighs again.

“Kai!” Kris yawps, crashing to his knees and pulls Kai up to his arms.

“Jongin,” Kai croaks out, slowly losing his consciousness. “They… took him.”


	16. Chapter 16

“Kai, _please_ , stop moving,” Yixing begs for the nth time as he cleans the spear wound on his shoulder with the river water.

“Here, I got some honey herbs,” Kris comes running back to the tree Kai is resting against with sprigs of leaves in his hands.

“I don’t bloody care about this!” Kai growls and jolts up to his feet. “We have to go after Jongin!”

“We know,” Kris says calmly. “But you won’t make it to Inselberg in this state. Hell, you won’t even make it halfway across the river! You know that yourself. So let us treat that sodding wound first and you _need_ to rest. God knows how many bones you could have broken.”

“I’m fine!” he shoves past Kris and an agonizing pain surges through his entire body. He knows that his body is half wrecked, but he couldn’t afford to dilly-dally around through futile repose. “Kris, please, we need to go after him,” he pants out with tears brimming in his eyes due to the excruciating pain that spreads all over his body. “I can manage,” he says firmly.

“No, you can’t. I’ll go after him if you want,” Yixing says, raising a hand to Kai’s unharmed shoulder. “But _you_ can’t.”

Kai shakes his head and painful limps over to Sylvaticus. He fishes his old tunic out of the satchel and pulls it on, wincing hard at every muscle that flexes. “We can worry about my injuries when we’ve found Jongin.”

Both Kris and Yixing scowl in Kai’s way. “Kai, you will die if you strain yourself too much.” Kris sighs.

“I don’t care,” Kai spits. “I’m leaving now.” They’ve already wasted too much time for Kai to come to his senses.

“Kai, they would bring him to their King. How the hell do you plan on reaching terms or making it round with that Stygian Savage King, Kai?!”

“I don’t plan on doing that. We get there, we get him back. No matter the cost.”

“That’s your brilliant plan?” Yixing snaps, already mounting his horse. “Fight your way through those Savages?”

Kai shoves the pain and every thought of it to the furthest corner of his mind. He grabs hold of the reins and steers Sylvaticus. “Yeah.”

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

This part of the Stygian Inselberg is touched by the shadows, kissed by Death and every inch of the inhabited mountain is bleeding malevolence. They have travelled past this Savage Land, but they have never trespassed. No Hunter does. The foot of the mountain is where the Savages dwell. Enormous tombstones are erected from the ground vertically, reaching to the skies. The fences are made of skulls and bones. There is a thick black smoke gushing upwards and Kai sees a faint illumination of a fire. The Savages are chanting a cacophonous melody as the fire grows wilder on the other side of the tombstones.

The sun is already waking up on this side of the world. The night sky is succumbing to the light. Kai doesn’t have much time left. His body is screaming in hellish throes, but he doesn’t give in to the pain. “Okay, I’ll distract them. You go find the Prince,” Kai says as he ties Sylvaticus’ reins to a tree and slings his bow over his uninjured shoulder.

“That’s not going to happen,” Kris hisses, picking up the pebbles and sticks from the ground. “You’re in no shape to outrun them. So we’ll be the decoy. We’ll distract them and you go look for the Prince.”

Kai nods his head and locks the arrow quiver around his back. “If things get out of hand, leave.”

Yixing scoffs, drawing his sword out. “Will you ever leave us if things get out of hand?”

“No?” Kai scowls.

“Then, no.” he smiles and starts into a jog towards the tombstones that are protecting the dwelling of the Savages. Kris shoots Kai a concerned look and with a curt bow of his head, he runs after Yixing.

Kai doesn’t spare another second as he races to the tombstones. While Kris and Yixing run to the right, Kai dashes to the left. The tombstones act as walls, Kai realizes. He keeps running in a circle until he comes to a halt when he spots a gap between the tombstones that is fenced by bones. Through the fence, he discerns the revelling and chanting Savages. There is meat and blood everywhere on the ground. They resemble Demons that are walking the Earth. Some of them have thick black hair that reaches the ground and all of them have skulls and bones as ornaments. Magick in Servanya isn’t always virtuous and beautiful. There is also monstrous, macabre Magick that feeds on fear. Their hands are clutching slabs of bloody meat as they devour it with gory smiles on their daemonic faces.

Kai can only hope that meat isn’t Jongin’s.

Sucking in a shaky breath and rolling his hurt shoulder, he crawls up the fence of bones. He can only hope to Hell and Heaven that he has the strength long enough to save Jongin. He doesn’t really care if his body gives up and he dies after that.

Upon reaching the top of the fence, he switches sides and drops the ground, landing effortlessly on his feet. The Savages seem to be too distrait with their own beanfeast to notice Kai who remains in the dark shadows.

That’s when one of them lets out a shriek. A pebble hits a Savage in the head. Kai hears a mock monkey holler and recognizes Yixing’s natural talent to yawp like a monkey almost immediately. The chants stop and the Savages turn their complete attention to the other end of the ground. Kai jolts into a sprint towards the back of the ground. There is a dais made of stone in the middle, but there is no King on the unoccupied throne. Kai wonders if the King already ate Jongin, but he shakes that thought off. Somehow, the idea of Jongin being served on a platter amuses him. The Prince won’t be so cocky after this. If he’s alive, that is.

Kai is forced to a jerky stop when a Savage at the back of the dais spots him. With a flinch and a wave of his arm, Kai shoots the arrow through its chest without any hesitation before the Savage could cry out. He bursts into a run again.

The instant his eyes fall on the cage built from bones in the corner, his stomach knots and his head pounds. Some Savages have their arms extending into the gaps between the bones of the cage, trying to touch Jongin who is curled up into a ball with his arms hugging his knees to his chest at the furthest end of the small cage. Kai breathes again.

The Savages let out strings of horrifying chuckles as they reach for Jongin, bothering him ceaselessly. When one of their hands touches Jongin’s foot, the Prince recoils and curls into an even tighter ball, if that’s even possible. He’s boots are gone and is barefooted.

Kai lets out a sigh and walks over to the cage. One of the three Savages turns its head around and sucks in a short gasp upon noticing Kai’s presence. The arrow plunges into its face before Kai darts two more into the other two Savages. Then kicking them aside, he drops to his knees and yanks his sword out.

“Jongin,” he whispers and Jongin’s eyes almost pop out as he straightens up.

“Kai?” he rasps.

“Shh,” Kai hushes him. “I’m getting you out of here.”

Jongin gets on his four since the cage is too short for him to stand. He crawls forward, following Kai’s voice. His bloodshot eyes are blindly searching for Kai. “You came, you came,” he exhales in a strained breath as though a sob is choking him.

“Of course, I came,” Kai says and cuts the ropes that are binding the cage to the ground. The cage weighs a mountain when Kai tries to lift it. His wounded shoulder buckles and he lets out a quiet grunt before he lifts one end of the cage. Then resting it on the tombstone behind, he bends and grabs Jongin’s arm. “Come on.”

“No, I can’t,” Jongin blurts out when Kai tries to pull him to his feet. “I was trying to run away from them. So they…” he trails off and Kai glances to Jongin’s feet. There are bright, thick red marks across his the soles of his feet.

That instant, Kai wants to burn this entire place down. He wants to fucking murder all these Savages. If he ever becomes the King, he’d make sure all these Savages die in the cruellest way possible. “Fucking…” he spits out, gritting his teeth. He sheaths his sword and slings his bow over his shoulder before lifting Jongin up into his arms. Jongin easily clings onto Kai’s neck, but Kai feels as though he might pass out right there. He can only push his body’s strength to a certain extent. But he doesn’t cave in.

He jogs back to the fence. There is an uproarious chaos on the other side where Yixing and Kris are causing a turmoil by vandalizing their tombstones. Some of the Savages are preparing to head out and seek the vandals. Kai thinks about tossing Jongin over the fence, but he knows the Prince would break a bone or two. Well, he supposes it’s better he endures the pain than the Prince.

“I’m going to need you to climb onto my back,” he says. His smashed back. The Savage had slammed a sodding tree against back and Kai could even barely sit straight on the horse. Bloody God can only test his willpower so much.

As Jongin finally clings onto his back with his arms tightened around Kai’s neck, Kai starts climbing up the tied bones. Jongin’s arm is pressing into the wound on his shoulder and Kai is too tired to avoid the pain. The shadows are a great advantage for them to stay hidden, but the sun is coming up. His bones bend and he doesn’t care if they break as he struggles to switch to the other side of the fence.

When his feet touch the ground, he slips an arm around Jongin’s waist and catches him before Jongin lets go of his neck. Then picking the Prince up in his arms again, he breaks into a sprint back to the horses. He whistles out a cuckoo’s call to alert his friends. While waiting for Kris and Yixing to come back, Kai settles Jongin on Sylvaticus.

“Are you okay?” he asks Jongin who looks bloodless and exhausted.

“I’m all right,” he murmurs and Kai drops his gaze to Jongin’s foot. With a pang sent to his heart, he cups Jongin’s foot and gently caresses the sole.

“We’ll do something about that.”

Jongin’s hand rises to Kai’s face and it strokes through Kai’s hair. “Thank you.”

“I gave the Queen my word,” Kai simply says and turns his attention to his friends who are running towards him like their lives depend on it.

“Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!” Yixing cries, jumping onto his horse. “They’re coming after us!”

Kai mounts Sylvaticus as Kris mounts Clarus. They don’t wait another moment as their horses gallop away in the direction of the Twin Mountains.

They don’t stop until they’ve reached the Blooming Grounds before Kai reins Sylvaticus to a stop.

“That was a rush,” Yixing lets out a laugh and Kris ruefully grins.

“We can rest here. Nothing will bother us here.” Kris says. His voice is a faint whisper in Kai’s head. They’re laughing and asking Jongin something his first real adventure. Kai finally lets his eyes close and he gives in. The laughter dies with all abruptness when Kai falls from the horse and hits the ground. The grass is soft against his face and that is all that he registers before he lets the oblivion claim him.


	17. Chapter 17

_ _

_“Afar to the mount they ride,_

_By black desires one’s light can’t hide,_

_While the heart of a brother beats as wild,_

_The other’s be athirst for lust as it cried.”_

The darkness flows in ennui, blinding more than one of his senses as his consciousness returns to him lethargically. His sentience rouses once again to the soft hum of breathing that isn’t his own. Kai lets himself be lulled by the sound of the breathing and the low thrum of the heartbeat. His scalp is caressed as his hair is gently stroked by slender digits. His head is nestled in something soft.

_“Afar to the mount they ride,_

_By black desires one’s light can’t hide,_

_While the heart of a brother beats as wild,_

_The other’s be athirst for lust as it cried.”_

The augury echoes in his head along with the subtle songs of canaries.

 _Mount._ Inselberg. The Savage’s dwelling at the mountain.

 _Black._ The skin, flesh and blood of the Savages are reflections of their evil _desires._

 _The heart of a brother._ Jongin was mired in fear as his heart _beats as wild._

 _The other’s (brother) be athirst for lust._ Kai’s heart that was longing for the carnality and to reach Jongin _as it (his heart) cried_ due to the pain Kai’s was suffering along with the guilt of leaving Jongin alone in the forest in the first place.

Kai’s eyes lazily flutter open and he meets the vague darkness and the trees with a sour glare. He clenches his eyes close again and tries to recall what has happened. He must have slept so well or taken an entire siesta that he doesn’t really know what happened upon reaching the Blooming Grounds. Kai never sleeps this deep.

His heart slowly starts to pound when he thinks about the hag’s auguries. But he falls weakly tired again when his hair is stroked. It feels amazing. He could fall asleep again. Kai lets out a breath and enjoys the feeling of having a hand brushing his hair. He has never felt anything like that before. Kai’s eyes fling open when it strikes him. Someone’s stroking his hair?

He turns his head to see Jongin smiling, not at him, but at the trees. “Kai?” he whispers out.

Kai has his head resting in Jongin’s lap with Jongin’s slim fingers caressing the strands of his hair. For a moment, Kai wants to just stay that way for the rest of his life. Then he realizes Jongin is his brother and is the future King. Jongin cards his fingers through Kai’s hair from the forehead to the top of the head. His other hand is splayed over Kai’s chest where the shirt is unlaced. Kai realizes he’s wearing a new, clean shirt. Must be Jongin’s. Jongin very gently brushes his fingers on Kai’s hard chest, memorizing every scar there.

“You know, it’s not nice groping an unconscious man,” Kai says, smirking and Jongin’s smile falters as his cheeks grow red under the moonlight. He retrieves the hands from Kai’s chest and hair as Kai sits up.

“Do not flatter yourself. I would never want to grope you,” Jongin scoffs, clenching his jaw.

“Of course, not. You have, after all, Your Majesty, quite experienced some delicious moments. I’m certain you don’t find this in any way inappropriate.”

Jongin’s scrunches his nose shyly and Kai smiles at that, lacing his shirt up.

He freezes for a moment when he notices the leaf plastered to his shoulder. The subtle sting suddenly intensifies and Kai rolls his shoulder, grunting a little. Kris and Yixing must have attended his wounds, but it almost feels like they’re healing. “How long have I… been sleeping?”

“An entire day,” Jongin says. “You must be hungry. Yixing and Kris went to fish, but they managed to get some fruit called the Nectar Melons.”

“Oh,” Kai looks to the yellow melons piled on the ground near the tree where the horses are sleeping. “Great. I’m sharp-set.” He stands up and walks over to grab the melons.

“Do you like them?” Jongin asks when Kai rips a melon open.

“What, melons?” Kai smiles. “Of course. Especially if they’re a redhead’s.”

Jongin’s eyes narrow as he scowls. Kai takes a bite of the melon and appreciates the nectar that trickle down his throat. “Why… did you come after me, Kai?” the Prince asks after a moment.

Kai blinks at him for a second. He definitely feels much better, but he had forgotten about Jongin’s feet. He looks to them. The burned scars have turned dark now. “What do you mean… why? I had to.”

Jongin frowns sadly. “You were so hurt.”

“So? I had some cuts and that’s reason enough for me to let those Savages eat the _Prince_?”

“Is that the only reason why you came after me?”

“That’s the only reason I need.” Kai shrugs, taking another bite of the melon. “Besides… it was my fault.”

“What?”

Kai sighs. “I shouldn’t have left you.”

Jongin hangs his head and starts pulling at the grass. “I thought I was going to die there.”

“You didn’t think I’d come after you?” Kai’s eyes widen when Jongin slowly shakes his head.

“I realized that you don’t… don’t like me. You must think of me as a condescending royalty and I understand that. You’ve been oppressed by people like me all your life. It might have been a good riddance to you if I were killed.”

Kai doesn’t reply as he speechlessly stares at the Prince.

“You must think I always have my way because I’m the Prince and my mother’s the Queen. That is why you… kissed me, didn’t you?” his voice starts breaking. “Because you think you can’t refuse me.”

That is part of what Kai thought. But that isn’t all. He wouldn’t have done it if he really didn’t want to. Oh, how Kai wishes he could just tell Jongin the truth. But he can’t take that risk.

“I never get what I want, Kai,” Jongin mutters shakily. “If you think I like all the opulence and power, I don’t. This isn’t what I want.”

“Ironic, isn’t it?” Kai snorts. “We all want what we can’t have.”

“Yes,” he whispers, sniffling a little. “We all want what we can’t have.”

Kai grits his teeth as he watches Jongin nervously pick at the grass before he lets out a tired sigh. “Your…” Kai pauses, rubbing his forehead. “Jongin. You don’t know who I really am. Because if you did, you would despise me. Whatever that you think you’re feeling for me isn’t real. It’s just a passing fancy. An insincere penchant for something that you’ve been coveting for far too long. It’s not _me_ whom you fancy. It’s the liberation. The freedom and rush of an adventure.”

Jongin’s eyebrows knit into a scowl. “You don’t know me either, Kai. So don’t draw your conclusions about me. If you don’t like me, all right. I will not pester you anymore. And I don’t know who you really are? I don’t have to love someone with my sight. I can love with my heart.”

Kai opens his mouth, but he has nothing coherent to say. Grinding his teeth, Kai pulls himself up to his feet. He should stretch his muscles a little and stay away from Jongin. “I’m going to go get some honey… for your feet.”

“You don’t have to bother,” Jongin says and lies down on the grass, using an arm as a pillow. “My discomfort is not your business.”

“You make it my business, Your Highness.” Kai spits and grabs his sword before heading into the forest. His heart swells and clenches painfully when every word that Jongin has said echoes in his ears. He had felt like dying when the Savages took Jongin away. He tries to not to look at Jongin’s lips because reminiscing the kiss hurts too much. He doesn’t want Jongin to show him such an affection and care because Kai can never reciprocate it. What happens when Jongin finds out Kai is his own brother who has been lying to him, giving him all this hope? How much would Jongin hate him? How _disgusted_ will he be?

Can a prince even fall for a penniless Hunter? Why is Jongin so… different?

Kai scouts the forest, looking for an abandoned beehive. There must be a river around here somewhere if Yixing and Kris have gone fishing. Kai dearly hopes they actually catch some fishes because he is tired of eating plants and fruits.

The moon shifts when Kai finally gives up on looking for the beehive. There are many Blooming Grounds in the forest. No monster or dark, magickal creatures are allowed to pass through. Kai doesn’t exactly know how, but they just can’t. The Stygian Inselberg is only nearby and Kai knows the Black Stygians aren’t too fond of him because he had stolen their stuff. So it’s probably wise he doesn’t trespass their land. It’s a beautiful dwelling, though. Rich and even more extravagant than the royal castle with every wall carved with details.

Kai stops when he spots a bunch of aloe vera leaves. Smiling to himself, he slices a couple of the stems and cuts through them. He fingers the gel and rises to his feet before heading back.

This won’t exactly heal the burn immediately, but it would definitely soothe it.

When he returns, he pauses to stare at Jongin, who is sleeping soundly with his hair all mussed up and lips slightly parted. Kai averts his gaze at once and kneels down. He gently lifts one of Jongin’s legs and rests the foot on his thigh. “Hnn…” Jongin moans, stirring.

“It’s okay. I’m just going to… help with the burn,” Kai whispers and Jongin lazily nods his head before falling drowsy again.

Kai lifts the foot, cupping the ankle. After collecting the gel from the aloe vera leaf, he glances to Jongin’s face again. The boy looks so vulnerable like this. He’s exhausted, but everything about Jongin gives Kai some sort of hope. He doesn’t know hope for what, but he just knows Jongin fills him with… hope. And love. Like he is the… _anchor to his soul._

_“To heaven you shan’t wrawl,_

_For that the one you love will fall,_

_He is the anchor to his brother’s soul,_

_Who shall not see the daylight’s call.”_

Kai swallows and turns his attention to brutal burns on the sole of Jongin’s foot. A pang is sent straight to his heart. Kai is a Hunter. He’s capable of withstanding any sort of agony and torture. But he can only imagine how Jongin must have cried in pain when the Savages burned his feet.

His mind is only filled with the thoughts of Jongin when he leans in and brushes his lips on the burned sole. Jongin silently whimpers in his sleep as Kai’s lips touches the burn. Kai lets out a soft breath that grazes the wound and he kisses it again. Just when Jongin starts to moan with his face crumpled into an uncomfortable grimace, Kai pulls back and applies the aloe vera gel on the burns.

He can hear Yixing’s laughter from afar. They must have caught some fishes.


	18. Chapter 18

“Shall we play a little game?” Yixing asks casually as he chomps down the rest of his fish.

“Oh, no,” Kris says, poking the sticks under the fire. Kai glances to Jongin who is grinning beside Yixing, still neatly picking at his fish plated on the leaf with only two of his forefinger and thumb while Kai, Kris and Yixing had ravaged theirs like wild men. Royal indeed. “You’re a sore loser and when you lose a game, you don’t talk to us for days.”

“Really?” Jongin laughs and his nose scrunches. Kai stares at him with a sigh. Kai is sprawled on the ground with his head propped in his head and legs resting on Kris’ lap.

“That is not true,” Yixing scowls. “I only act out when they cheat. And believe me, they _do_ cheat a lot.”

“I’m not sure how one can cheat in Stone-Rag-Dagger.” Kris scoffs and Yixing pins him with a lour.

“I think a game would be nice,” Jongin says after a beat.

“Yes, it would be nice,” Kris agrees almost immediately.

“What shall we play?”

“How about Two-Truths-One-Lie?” Yixing suggests.

Jongin looks confused. “How does one play that?”

“Well, it’s simple,” Kris explains. “We’ll tell three things about us. One of them is a lie and you’ll need to guess which of it the lie is. Of course, the truths shan’t be too obvious.”

“Usually it’s quite debauched and dirty, but we’ll keep it rather _nice_ this time,” Yixing says, nudging his elbow into Jongin’s arm. “Now, why don’t you start, Jongin?”

“Um… all right.” He takes a moment to think. “I like cats. I like horses. I like Gavin.”

Both Yixing and Kris go silent, blinking at each other.

“You don’t like Gavin,” Kai says calmly, twisting a lace of his shirt around his finger.

Jongin licks his lips. “Correct.”

“Who the hell is Gavin?” Kris asks.

“No matter,” Jongin says. “Is it Yixing’s turn?”

“Okay,” Yixing sits up straight. “I was the one who ate Kris’ cornbread on Samhain night last year. I humped the woman who lives across us—the forty plus one. I’ve kicked a pup.”

“Oh, fuck. You better not have been the one who ate my cornbread!” Kris growls.

“You’re lying about humping the old woman,” Kai says.

Yixing’s eyes widen. “No. I didn’t kick a puppy. Why the hell would I ever kick a puppy, dear Lord.”

“Gross! You humped that old lady?!” Kai sits up with a jolt. Jongin bursts into an uproarious laughter.

“You fucking ate my cornbread?!” Kris cries beside him. “I’m going to kill you!”

Kai holds Kris back. “You’re disgusting, Yixing.”

“Anyway, it’s Kris’ turn.” Yixing points the stick in Kris’ way.

Scowling hard and clenching his jaw, Kris says, “I’ve kissed Yixing. I’ve kissed Kai. I’ve kissed a monkey. Let Jongin guess this.”

Kai tenses a little when he looks to the Prince. Jongin blinks as his fingers idly skims the fish.

“You guys seem close,” Jongin says. “Is it the monkey?”

Kai lets out a chuckle. Kris used to have a pet monkey that died many years ago. “Nope. Kris actually prefers the monkey to Yixing.”

“Yeah, I really do. I had a really adorable monkey a while ago. It died when the plague came.” Kris sighs.

“So… is it Yixing?” Jongin asks in a very low voice.

“Yes. Please. Don’t ever bring that filthy mouth close to me.”

“Oh, you’re charming. I want to give you a kiss. Come here,” Yixing coos and stands up before crossing the fire to get to Kris with his lips puckered.

Kris raises his boots. “I’m not afraid to stomp you on your face, Yixing. Stay away from me.”

Kai is the only one who’s laughing because Jongin has gone quiet.

“I want to… wash my hands,” Jongin mutters silently. Kris and Yixing are brawling on the ground, so they don’t hear him.

“I’ll take you,” Kai says and shoots up at once. Jongin settles the leftovers on the ground and holds his hand out. Kai swallows, curling his hand around Jongin’s and gently pulls him up to his feet. “Can you walk?”

“I’m fine. It’s okay,” he murmurs, limping forward. “Ow,” he gasps and Kai heaves a sigh before bending down and lifting Jongin into his arms. Jongin instantly clings onto Kai’s neck, careful not to hurt the wound on Kai’s shoulder.

Kai doesn’t inform his friends who are rolling like pigs in mud and walks deeper into the woods. “Are you thirsty, too?”

Jongin nods his head shyly. They stay mum as Kai carries him towards the river. “Did you really kiss Kris?” Jongin asks in a whisper after a moment.

“Uh… I did. It was just a friendly peck on the lips when we were pissed as goats.”

“Oh,” he falls silent again. Kai tries his best to not to look down at Jongin’s beautiful face.

“How’s your feet?”

“Better. What is the salve that you applied?”

“It isn’t a salve. It’s just aloe vera.”

“It’s magickal. I can barely feel the sting.”

Kai smiles, dropping his gaze to Jongin’s face. “I’m glad. I’ll go fetch some more.”

Jongin’s hand pressed onto the side of Kai’s neck slides up and lightly caresses Kai’s cheek. Kai swallows the lump that begin to rise in his throat. “Thank you.” he lowers his hand again.

“We’ll have to leave at sunrise. You should get some rest, Your Majesty. Maybe sleep. We don’t really know what to expect beyond the Pythoness’ Lair.”

“Does a pythoness live there?”

“Yes. A cruel witch, who harbours no kind motives. Well, I haven’t met her. But I’ve heard her predictions and prophecies are faultless. Which is why people fear her because she can accurately predict one’s death. Can you imagine what sort of a Hell your life would become if you knew the day you’ll die?”

Jongin presses a side of his face to Kai’s shoulder. “That would be awful.”

Kai glances to Jongin’s eyes. _I don’t have to love someone with my sight. I can love with my heart._ Will Jongin let Kai into his heart if he knew Kai is his brother?

He keeps wondering if Jongin would accept him. He doesn’t think about how he himself feels about it. Jongin might not want him if he comes to know about Kai’s true identity. But does Kai want Jongin?

The river flows ruefully slow as the moonlight glimmers on the ripples. “We’re here.”

“You can put my down. It’s okay.”

Kai lowers Jongin to his feet and Jongin’s face crumples into a discomforted grimace. But he tip-toes over the pebbles and drops to his knees. Kai waits as the Prince laves his hands and mouth. Jongin smiles, pressing his wet hands to his neck.

“Do you mind if I take a brief bath? I feel grimy,” Jongin says and much to Kai’s dismay, he sighs.

“No. It’s fine. Go ahead. I’ll… wait.”

Jongin slowly rises to his feet and starts to unlace his shirt. Kai’s lips part open as he gawks at Jongin. “Please, don’t look.” Jongin whispers and Kai’s cheeks burn.

“I’m not!”

“Then turn around.”

Kai groans and turns his back to Jongin at once with the back of his neck on fire. God, why would he want to look? Does he want to look? Why would he? It’s insanity.

Kai licks his lips and turns his head a little. He sees Jongin pulling the shirt off in the corner of his eye. Kai lets out a shaky breath with his eyes raking Jongin’s flawless, unblemished back. He has a beautiful, slender waist. Kai wonders how smooth Jongin’s skin would feel against his lips. His mouth waters at the corners when he notices the soft-looking flesh on the sides of Jongin’s waist.

Let the Hell burn him.

Kai turns his head around when Jongin starts to pull his pants down. He aimlessly stares at the trees as his mouth goes dry again. He hears a subtle splash of water and a whimper from Jongin.

“It’s cold,” Jongin whines and Kai grips his balls, muffling a grunt. God is really testing his patience. “Kai, you can turn around if you want.”

Kai doesn’t move for a minute as he steadies his breathing. Then he slowly turns and instantly regrets it. Water rivulets are dripping from his hair, trickling down Jongin’s face. The river stands up to Jongin’s breastbones and the rays of the moon shines all over Jongin’s exposed skin. Jongin playfully slapping the water around him.

“I have never bathed in a river before,” he rasps, grinning from ear to ear.

Kai bites his lower lip so hard that he tastes blood. Jongin messily pushes his hair to a side and giggles, trying to cup the water.

Kai unbuckles the belt of the sheath and lets the sword drop to the ground as he quietly wends his way forward.

“I wish I could see. The forest. The river. The Watergayte people,” Jongin says with a frown, facing the other way. “Even the Babymoth.”

“Behemoth,” Kai corrects him, shedding his shirt and starts on the lace of his pants.

“Behemoth. And Kris, Yixing. The birds. The Savages.”

Kai strips down to nothing and glides into the river. He slowly swims over to Jongin who is facing upwards with his eyes closed and lips stretched into a smile. Kai latches his hands to Jongin’s hips.

Jongin shudders abruptly and lowers his head, blinking blankly. Kai gently pulls Jongin close and Jongin brings his hands up to Kai’s chest, pinning his palms there. His lips are quivering as his eyes tremble in confusion. His breath quickens when Kai drags his hands up to the sides of Jongin’s soft, soft waist. The water flows in the small gap between their bodies.

“What about me?” Kai asks in a very low whisper, keeping his half-lidded eyes on Jongin’s glistening pink lips. “Don’t you… want to see me?”

Jongin’s wet fingers gently trace the scars on Kai’s chest. “If that scares you… I don’t want to.”

“Jongin…” Kai breathes out, brushing his lips against Jongin’s cheek.

“I don’t even want my sight back if you are afraid of me seeing you.” Jongin whispers, pressing his lips to Kai’s shoulder. “Please, don’t push me away, Kai.” He kisses the shoulder and Kai clenches his eyes shut, letting his hands memorize the curve of Jongin’s waist underwater. Jongin is shivering against him. He’s scared. He’s nervous. He’s embarrassed, Kai could tell. But he also wants Kai to hold him this close.

Kai snakes his hands around Jongin’s svelte body and presses his palms to the boy’s back. “Do you really want me, Jongin? No matter the consequences?”

Jongin raises his head, frowning. “You don’t have to do this as a favour.” He pushes Kai back with a hand on his chest.

“Jongin,” he grabs hold of Jongin’s hand underwater and pulls him back. He brings Jongin’s hand to his chest and holds it there. “Do you feel how fast my heart is beating right now?” he mutters and Jongin’s gaze turns languid. “And in the end, you will break it, Jongin.”

“Because I’m a prince? Because you think I will leave you?” he rasps, curling a hand around the back of Kai’s neck and heavily clings his weight onto Kai. Tears gloss Jongin’s eyes as he cups Kai’s face and lightly draws his thumb down Kai’s lips. He then presses the thumb to the skin beneath Kai’s bottom lip. “My father died the day I was born. My mother never really cared about my happiness. What I want. _Who_ I want to be with,” he grips Kai’s hair at the nape. “I want… you, Kai. And I want to be with you. But only if you can love me for who _I_ am. All of me. As I love you, scars, wounds and all.” He blindly presses a kiss to Kai’s forehead.

Kai sucks in a breath and brushes their lips together, placing a soft kiss on Jongin’s lower lip.


	19. Chapter 19

Although Jongin does share some of Kai’s resemblance, he still looks so different, so beautiful and gently, and his pleasant face is sheening with pure innocence. Holding him this close, Kai wants to keep him in his arms for the rest of the time. Kai lightly cups Jongin’s face in his hand and gently kisses Jongin’s rose-soft lips, careful not to hurt them in any way. Jongin has his eyes clenched shut with his palm pressed to Kai’s chest as he slowly leans into the kiss, letting Kai lead the way. Kai closes his eyes and tilts his head to the side, pressing a harder kiss onto those warm, trembling lips. He suckles Jongin’s plush bottom lip and breaks the kiss momentarily, leaving Jongin’s lip red and swollen. He lets out a hot, shaky breath that grazed Kai’s lips.

The sky is bluing above and the air calmly floats around them. Kai snakes his hand down the curve of the side of Jongin’s torso and gently grips Jongin’s hip underwater. He forces himself to not to venture any lower, although he barely has the patience right now. He wants to be as gentle as he can, well, because it’s Jongin.

Kai kisses the tip of Jongin’s nose a couple of times.

Jongin’s fingers tangle in Kai’s hair at the nape of his neck. Letting out another quivering breath, Jongin leans in and brushes his lips against Kai’s. “Kiss me,” he whispers and Kai smiles a little before giving Jongin what he wants. The kiss is slow and kind, and they savour every moment of it. River water wets their bodies, lubricating them thoroughly when Kai pulls Jongin close until their bodies are pressed together.

Kai draws back a little to let Jongin catch his breath. A small smile forms on Jongin’s reddened lips and he rests his forehead on Kai’s, panting softly for air. They remain silent, simply consuming the heat and scent of each other’s skin for a moment.

Then Jongin pulls away before he turns his back to Kai. “Can you help?” he asks in a low purr.

Kai’s breath hitches. God, this is so unfair and Jongin is driving him mad. Kai tries his level best to not to let himself harden. He cups a handful of water and raises the hand to Jongin’s shoulder. He lets the water dribble down the shoulder blade and bites his lip, swallowing hard. He doesn’t get too close, but darn it, he really fights the animal urge to grind his shaft against Jongin’s rear. He cups another handful of water and pours it over Jongin’s back before pressing his palm to the back of Jongin’s shoulder. He drags his hand down the back and licks his lips.

“Nnh…” Jongin whimpers softly and cocks his head to the side before he rests the back of his head on Kai’s shoulder as Kai glides his hand along Jongin’s spine and under the water, he snakes his hand around the side of Jongin’s soft waist. Kai slowly massages the flesh and bows his head to kiss the crook of Jongin’s neck where his shoulder and when his lips touched the skin, Jongin shudders against Kai’s chest. Kai claims Jongin’s lips again and kisses him with Jongin’s head on his shoulder.

Kai’s hand slithers around Jongin’s waist and latches itself to Jongin’s flat stomach. Lord, he’s soft everywhere. Kai breaks the kiss and sighs when he hears the whinny of the horses. Jongin’s eyes are half-lidded as he falls heavy against Kai. “We have to get going,” he whispers and Jongin lets out a heavy breath, pulling away from Kai.

“Do we have to?” he caresses Kai’s chest and strokes Kai’s hard abdomen.

“Yes,” Kai murmurs against Jongin’s cheek, kissing it a little. “Kris and Yixing might come looking for us.”

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

Kai smiles to himself when Jongin tightens his arms around his waist. He can feel Jongin’s heartbeat against his back with Jongin kissing the back of his neck every once in a while when Sylvaticus prances over a root or log. Kai can only hope Yixing and Kris won’t notice.

They come to a halt when they lose the pathway. Frowning, Kai turns to Yixing. “Give me the map,” he says and Yixing tosses the map to him at once.

He surveys the map again and looks up at the rock mountain that is blocking their path. “What is this Kai? We already passed the Twin Mountains.” Kris says in a vexed tone.

Kai’s eyes narrow when he glances to the hollow, dark cavern in the rock mountain. “It’s the Pythoness Lair,” he mutters.

“I thought we passed that, too,” says Yixing. “Right after the Twins.”

Kai shakes his head. “No,” he rolls the map up. “The Pythoness never would have let us pass without luring us to her.” He stares at the dark cavern. Then gritting his teeth, he dismounts the horse. “Stay here.”

“Kai, what are you doing?”

Kai presses the reins into Jongin’s hands and grabs his sword. “There’s no way around here. It’s not on the map. I’m going to see if there’s a way through there.”

“Let us come with you,” Kris says.

“No, it’s fine. Stay here with the Prince.”

“Kai… Beware of the Pythoness.”

Kai nods his head and starts towards to the cavern. The sunlight doesn’t even touch the mouth of the cavern. Kai draws his sword out as he ducks into the cavern. There is a hole in the ceiling of the cavern, letting the sunlight colour the ground in the middle of the cavern. He jumps a little when he steps onto something thick and crunchy on the ground. He stops for a beat and inspects the blanket-like thing. His heart pounds in his ears when he realizes it’s a snake’s shed skin. Swallowing, he ventures a little deeper, searching for an exit route that would fit the horses. He needs to get to the other side of the mountain without having to recourse all around it.

“Dear-hhh Kai-hhh.”

Kai spins around with his blade pointing in the direction of the source of the hiss. “Pythoness, I have no business with you,” he calls out and his voice echoes in the cavern. “I simply look for a way to the Cascade of Signum.”

“Another-hhh wayfarer, looking-hhh for the Sssignum.”

Kai’s blood runs cold. “I… would like to know the way to it.”

“Isss that-hhh all that-hhh you whhhant to know-hhh?” her voice is dangerously chilly and a wintry shudder passes down Kai’s spine.

“Yes.” He turns around when he hears something swoosh behind him in the dark. “Won’t you show yourself?”

The Pythoness laughs in hisses. “If my-hhh King-hhh ordersss. I ssshall obey-hhh.”

Kai blinks, taking a step back. “What are you talking about?”

“Sssuch a promisssing future. Sssuch a tragic-hhh fffate. You are-hhh meant fffor greatnessss, my King-hhh. The conqueror-hhh of landsss. The ruler-hhh offf the Hellsss. The massster-hhh of all eminence-sss.”

Kai swings the blade in the direction of the ruffling noise. “Are you talking about Jongin?”

“A King-hhh and a Prince-sss,” she whispers. “Brothersss by bond-hhh. Loversss by heart-hhh.”

Kai’s clench tightens around his sword’s hilt.

“Ohhh, the King offf all Kingsss.”

“You… you’ve mistaken me for my… brother.” Of course, the Pythoness would know everything.

“Havvve I?” she laughs and her guffaw reverberates all over the cavern.

Kai staggers back a few steps with his eyes bulging out when the Pythoness slides into the light. That instant, Kai loses all of his breaths, gaping at the woman. Her lower half is snake. She’s unbelievably enchanting with long dark blue hair. Her snake portion is greenish-blue and her skin has a blue complexion as well.

“Follow the sssecond ssstar northhh to the Twinsss,” she hisses, standing tall before Kai as her snake tail rattles. “The Sssignum won’t help-hhh him.”

Kai heard that before. But he’s too speechless to say anything.

“Hhhome withhh the Flower Faeriesss and leave-hhh the following day-hhh.”

Kai slowly backs up, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Thank you.”

Just when he turns around to leave, the Pythoness hisses again. “Four moonsss from now-hhh, the Prince will-hh meeeet hisss deathhh and you… shall reign-hhh all-hhh offf Ssservanya-hhh, my sssweet Hunter-hhh.”


	20. Chapter 20

“Kai, this isn’t the way on the map,” Yixing says, flipping the map up and down. “We’re going north.”

Kai tries to focus on the pace of his breathing as he clenches the reins of the horse. The lump in his windpipe is making it impossible for him to breathe with ease and Jongin’s warm chest pressed to his back is not making it any easier either. “I know. Just trust me.”

“Did something happen in the cavern?” Kris asks with his eyes narrowing. “Kai… was it the Pythoness Lair?”

Kai keeps mum, but he passes Kris a deliberate look and Kris silently nods his head, conceiving Kai’s thoughts. “We’re going to the Land of the Flower Faeries.”

“What?!” Yixing yelps. “Kai, why?! They’re the most annoying little pests!”

“Flower Faeries?” Jongin mutters and Kai can already feel the excitement in his breath that grazes Kai’s nape. “I’ve only read about them. They’re real?”

“Yes, they are. Real pain in the neck.” Yixing scoffs. “Why do we have to go there?”

“Because it’s the only way around the rock mountain, to the Signum.” Kai says.

“But it’s way off the path on the map.”

“Yixing,” Kris cuts him off. “Let’s just trust him.”

Jongin curls his arms tighter around Kai’s waist and rests a side of his face on the back of Kai’s shoulder.

_“Four moons from now the Prince will meet his death.”_

_“This shall be my last augury,_

_Your end will be bittery,_

_His corse your arms will carry,_

_With his death, your warmth you will also bury.”_

Kai’s entire body shudders and Jongin flinches against his back. “Kai?” he whispers when Kai pulls Sylvaticus’ reins to halt the horse.

 _We should go back_ , Kai thinks with his blood gushing cold in his veins. He should at least tell Kris and Yixing about the auguries, but he definitely doesn’t want Jongin to know any part of it. His heart pounds in his chest while his head spins in a whirlpool.

“Kai?” Kris calls. “You okay?”

Lowering his head, Kai clenches his eyes close and sucks in a deep breath. He needs some time to think. Should he even believe the Pythoness’ augury? He couldn’t even take the enchanting image of the Pythoness off his mind.

“Yeah. Let’s just move on.” He sighs and reins Sylvaticus to stride forward. He gently cups his hand over Jongin’s clasped hands against his abdomen. He isn’t going to let anything happen to Jongin.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

It’s mostly a vast wildflower meadow surrounded by trees. As the last rays of the sun kiss the meadow, the cacophony of colours in the meadow fades. There are all sorts of flowers, not only in the meadow, but also among the trees that border the meadow. In the forest, this is the most beautiful, breath-taking spot one could reach. The violet Cornflowers and sweet purple Thistles are dwelling between the orange Butterfly Weeds. Kai loses his breath. He had to one of the Flower Faeries’ meadows, but this meadow has to be the most captivating of all.

Dusk starts to engulf them and little flickers of fireflies begin to float around. Kai dismounts his horse and gapes at the multicolour Lupines that are scattered all over the meadow. There are also patches of Poppies.

Yixing and Kris jump off their horses. “It’s awfully quiet here.” Yixing whispers.

“They must have gone into hiding after hearing us come,” Kris says. “Let me tie the horses.”

Kai latches his hands to the sides of Jongin’s waist. “Come on,” he mutters to the Prince. Smiling sheepishly, Jongin holds onto Kai’s shoulders and swings his legs to one side before he gets off the horse, letting Kai support his weight. Kai pulls away as soon as Jongin is settled on the ground. Kris hauls the horses away. “It’s beautiful here. I wish you could see it.”

Jongin smiles. “I will.”

Kai licks his lips and looks away. “Ouch!” he gasps when something pokes into his shin and he jumps back.

“Ah!” Yixing screeches behind them and hops away. “What the hell?!”

Another sharp prod into his shin sends Kai staggering to the side, almost knocking into Jongin. That’s when he hears the little squeaks and he looks down. “Oh, my God,” he rasps breathlessly, discerning the tiny Flower Faeries with spears the size of a toothpick. The Faeries look exactly like humans, but with pointy ears and only as big as a finger and they all have different sorts of flower petals as clothes and headgears. “Wait, wait. We’re not here to harm you!” he crouches to the ground and the Faerie clad in Magnolia petals thrusts her spear forward, warning Kai to back off and she has a furious scowl etched on her face. She says something, but it only sounds like a mouse squeak. Kai refrains himself from laughing. Behind her, the Faeries are sporting pink, purple and even Bloody Cranesbill flower petals.

“Nyuninipiupiuku,” Yixing calls out to the Faeries that surround his feet with tiny spears, imitating their squeaks. “I’m not afraid to step on you!”

“Don’t hurt them,” Jongin mumbles. “Kai, don’t kill them.”

Kai flinches and scowls at Jongin. “I’m not going to… _kill_ them, Lord! I’m not a Faerie killer. Look, we just need a place to stay for the night. This is the Prince and his feet are hurt,” he informs the Magnolia Faerie who is still adorably ferocious and is ready to attack Kai with her tiny stick.

The Faerie looks to Jongin’s feet and her expression softens. She runs over to one of his foot and presses her small, dainty hand to Jongin’s smallest toe. Jongin gasps and his cheeks fill with blood. The Faerie squeaks something, caressing the toe and Jongin giggles.

Kai glances ahead when the flowers in the meadow waggle and rustle. His jaw falls slacking when the Flower Faeries peep out of their flowers, all glancing to Jongin before they hesitantly start walking towards Jongin. Kai rise to his full height and shrugs when Yixing cocks an eyebrow at him.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

“Oh,” Jongin lets out and bites his lower lip. Kai, Kris and Yixing stare at the Faeries fawning over Jongin’s hurt feet as they soothe his burned soles with some sort of nectar. “That tickles,” he laughs.

The Faeries giggle with him and it sounds like a bell chime. Some of them are dancing around Jongin who’s perched on the grass as fireflies hover around them. “What are they doing?” Kris hisses to Kai under his breath.

“I have no idea. They seem to have taken a fancy in him.” Kai whispers back. The sky has blackened, welcoming all of the night with open arms.

“Because he’s the Prince?” Yixing spits. “That’s racist. My feet are swollen, too!” he points to his stinky boots.

Kai sighs as he keeps his eyes on Jongin. He looks happy. So happy. And Kai is a mess. He couldn’t even breathe properly for a second. If only they could just stay here forever.

The Faerie clad in the petals of the Old Orange Daylily jumps onto Jongin’s knee and does a funny dance, squeaking something. Kai glances up to the dark sky. The moon is bright tonight. Full.

Four moons.

They could reach the Signum and head back in less than two weeks. So if the Pythoness’ augury is accurate, Jongin’s demise awaits him back home.

Kai rises to his feet and walks over to Jongin. “Your… Highness,” he says. “Can you accompany me for a moment?”

Jongin stands up at once and Kai takes hold of his hand. “Where are we going?”

Kai moves slowly so that Jongin can be careful with his steps. The Faeries turn to bother Yixing and Kris as they walk away. As soon as they are in the forest among the trees, Kai comes to a stop and pulls his hand away from Jongin.

Sucking in a deep breath, Kai turns around and faces Jongin. “We cannot do this, Jongin,”

Jongin blinks blankly. “What?”

“You… you don’t know who I really am. And I… I can’t do this. This isn’t fair to you.”

“Wait, wait,” he rasps and presses his hands to Kai’s chest, frowning deeply. “Kai, what are you talking about?”

Kai curls his hands around Jongin’s wrists. “If you knew who I really am, you’d despise me. I cannot do this, Jongin. I’m… I’m falling for you too hard and I’m not… confident that this will last. I don’t love you and I don’t want to.”

“Why are you saying that?” Jongin’s lips tremble as his eyes well up with tears.

“Which part of it don’t you understand?!”

“I love you, Kai,” he starts to sob, clenching his fists around Kai’s shirt by the chest. “Please… p-please, Kai. Don’t do this to me. You… you said—”

“I know what I said!” he rips Jongin’s hands off his shirt. “You’re a prince. You’re going to be the King. Where do I fit in this fancy life of yours?! You want me to be your dirty little secret? Like literally dirty,” he groans and turns his back to Jongin. His heart clenches and he blinks the tears that brim in his eyes away.

“You… don’t want me?” his voice shakes and he brings his trembling hand to Kai’s back. Kai shuts his eyes and balls his hands into fists.

“No, I don’t.”

“K-Kai…” he presses his face to Kai’s back and cries into it. His hot tears seep through the shirt and Kai grits his teeth when he feels the warmth and wetness of the tears on his back. “Why do you… do this to me? You… kissed me. You… touched me. If you really don’t want me… then… fine. I can assure you… I’m not a prince when I’m wanting to be touched by you. When I want you to… love me back. I’m just… me. Don’t you… like _me_? Just me?”

Kai’s eyes fly open and he turns around to face Jongin. “Sleep with me, then,” he spits out furiously and Jongin freezes with tears trickling down his cheeks. “I don’t love you and I never will. But if you really like me that much, why not fucking sleep with me?” he hisses. “If you’re that desperate to get laid.”

Jongin’s fist flies up and it strikes Kai across his face. Kai rolls his jaw and stares at Jongin who is glaring at him miserably. “You are unbelievable.”

Kai grips Jongin’s hips and shoves him back until Jongin is slammed back against a tree. Jongin whimpers and quakes against Kai’s body when Kai slides his hand between his thighs and clutches Jongin’s crotch. “This is all that I want from you and all that you can ever afford, Jongin,” he hisses through his grit teeth as Jongin struggles to push Kai away.

“S-stop,” he pants out when Kai rips Jongin’s shirt open.

“This is your _only_ worth, Jongin. Your body. Are you willing to just sell that off because of your puerile infatuation for me?!” he slips his hand into Jongin’s shirt and mercilessly grips the side of Jongin’s torso until Jongin winces.

Jongin sobs silently, his hands futilely trying to push Kai away. “Why are you being like this?” he rasps breathlessly.

“Because I’m tired! I’m sodding exhausted of everything!” he cups and grips Jongin’s jaw, almost choking him. “Especially you. I told you. I don’t do this romance, love thing.”

Jongin abruptly stops fighting and falls feebly limp under Kai’s clutch, trapped between Kai’s body and the tree. His head falls forward and he rests his forehead on Kai’s shoulder. “Go ahead, then,” he exhales and wraps his arms around Kai’s neck, much to Kai’s surprise. “Do whatever you want.”

Kai’s breath hitches in shock. This boy really is something. How can anyone even remotely be fond of a guy like Kai? “What? How could you… Jongin, are you mad? You shouldn’t just let a man do something like that.”

“You’re upset, aren’t you? I want to show you… that I love you. So if you’re going to insult and tarnish my sincere, pure feelings for you, go ahead, Kai. Ruin me. As you said, my body is the only thing _I_ have to give you. I don’t care about me. I care about you.”

Kai tiredly collapses against Jongin and closes his eyes. “No matter who I am?”

“No matter who you are,” he whispers.

Kai pulls back and drops to his knees before Jongin. Latching his hands to Jongin’s hips, he leans in and kisses the skin beneath Jongin’s narrow navel. “Kai,” Jongin breathes when Kai starts to unlace his pants. “No, no. not like this,” he gasps and locks his fingers in Kai’s hair. Kai looks up at him confusedly.

“It’s okay, Jongin.” Kai’s head is swimming in a muddle of confusions that he doesn’t want to entertain right now. He had tried to push Jongin away, but to no avail. Because he wants Jongin. He really wants Jongin.

“No. I want you… I want you to… make love to me,” he says with his cheeks growing crimson red. Kai stands up and stares into Jongin’s sightless eyes. He takes Jongin’s hand and leads him deeper into the forest.


	21. Chapter 21

This can either make them or break them. Whatever it is, Kai isn’t going to let it break Jongin, even if it destroys himself. Jongin doesn’t let go of his hand as Kai leads him through the forest, to get as far away as they can from the others. When he looks back at the Prince, Jongin has his lips curled into an inhibited smile, wearing a bashful, meek expression. He looks beautiful, so beautiful. Kai has his face, but there is absolutely no way he looks like Jongin. Is it really that horrible? Loving your own brother? If he could control his heart, he would never let it fall in love with Jongin. How cruel can fate be?

He comes to a stop where the moonlight shines the brightest. It’s an almost empty ground, except for the grass that carpets the soil. He turns around and faces Jongin, firmly holding his hand. “Is this really how you want to do this, Jongin?” he asks in a low whisper, edging closer and cups Jongin’s cheek with their foreheads almost brushing.

“What do you mean?” he breaths against Kai’s lips, clinging onto Kai’s hand that’s pressed against a side of his face.

“This… Us. Right here. Right now.”

“Don’t you want it, too?”

“I do. I really do,” he lightly brushes their upper lips together. “But I still stand by what I said. I have no room in your rather extravagant life.” What is Kai to do should the Pythoness’ augury actually eventuates? He will do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn’t. But in order for him to do that, he’ll need to be by Jongin’s side. How will Jongin ever let him even near him when he finds out who Kai really is and knows about all the lies Kai had told him? How will Jongin ever forgive him? It’ll crush Kai harder than he thinks.

“Do you think I’ll leave everything and you behind as soon as everything’s over?” Jongin asks, palming Kai’s chest. “Do you really believe I’m capable of such dire cruelty? Do you think I’m that scathing of a person? You’ve hurt me more than I have hurt you, Kai.”

That sends a painful pang to Kai’s heart. He strokes his thumb over Jongin’s cheekbone and Jongin leans into his touch. “You have _never_ hurt me,” Kai breathes out and presses his lips to Jongin’s cheek. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I said all those horrible things. I didn’t… mean it.”

Jongin rests his head on Kai’s shoulder and nuzzles his nose into Kai’s neck. “Why did you say them, then? What’s wrong?” he asks, clinging onto Kai’s neck. Kai plunges his nose into Jongin’s hair and wraps his arms around Jongin’s slender body.

“If I told you… that we can never be together… what would you do?”

Jongin doesn’t raise his head and he doesn’t say anything. Kai weakens a little, lulled by Jongin’s steady pace of breathing. “Why can’t we, Kai?” Jongin whispers at last and Kai’s heart swells so bad, he chokes on a sob. “I will… die if you leave me. I will die out of heartache. So I don’t care. I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve never wanted to be held by another man before… you,” he sniffs and Kai’s soul feels heavy, if he has one that is. He feels Jongin’s warm tears seep into Kai’s shirt by the shoulder. “So if you say that we can’t be together, I want to make the most of what we already have. Just don’t push me away because that’ll hurt me more.”

Kai smiles, lightly kissing the side of Jongin’s head. “I thought you said you’ve already done it.”

Jongin snorts and wipes the tears on his cheek against Kai’s neck. “Will you believe me… if I told you I lied?”

Kai gasps dramatically. “No bloody way! You lied straight to my face! How dare you? I don’t believe you. You seem like the most experienced person in that arena.”

“Quit taunting me,” Jongin mewls into the crook of Kai’s neck and lets out a shy whimper. “I was ashamed. I knew you would sneer at me and ridicule me if I told you I was…” he trails off.

“Untouched?” Kai whispers against Jongin’s ear and gives his earlobe a gentle suck. Jongin melts in Kai’s arms and against Kai’s chest. “Virgin?” Jongin shivers as though Kai’s purr tickles him.

“Stop… Don’t,” he breathes out, rubbing his face against Kai’s shoulder.

Kai helplessly smiles into Jongin’s hair. “Do you really want _me_ , Jongin?”

Jongin raises his head and Kai pulls back a little. “I do, Kai.”

Holding Jongin’s face in his hands, Kai leans in and kisses the tip of Jongin’s nose. Jongin shudders and giggles silently. “I have an insane fad for your nose, do you know that?”

Jongin blinks in surprise. “What? Why?”

“I don’t know—it’s adorable when you scrunch it.”

Jongin deliberately scrunches it. “Like… this?”

Kai groans as though in pain. “Don’t do that. My heart might burst.”

“My feet hurt.” He sighs.

“Oh,” Kai grabs Jongin’s thighs and lifts him off the ground. Jongin gasps and tightly holds onto Kai’s neck as Kai locks Jongin’s legs around his waist. “Now, is that better?” he asks, smiling against Jongin’s lips as Jongin entangles his fingers around the strands of Kai’s hair. He keeps his grips under Jongin’s thighs to keep him hoisted up. Jongin’s shirt is still ripped open and Kai fights the urge to ravage that unblemished, pristine chest with delirious kisses. The pinkish, erect nipples are even more inviting. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it when I said your body is your only worth.”

“But it was the truth anyway,” Jongin murmurs on Kai’s lips and gently kisses Kai’s lower lip, letting out a heavy breath.

“No, it isn’t,” Kai rasps, lowering down to his knees before he flumps down on the grass, enveloping Jongin’s legs around his hips. Jongin settles on his lap and presses his chest unto Kai’s. Kai lets out a shaky breath and pulls Jongin’s shirt off. Tossing the shirt aside, Kai latches his hands to the sides of Jongin’s torso, pulling him closer. He draws his hand down Jongin’s chest and presses his palm to Jongin’s flat stomach. He lets out a loud sigh. “You’re so beautiful. Inside and out, Jongin.” he presses a kiss to Jongin’s shoulder.

Jongin yanks Kai’s shirt and pulls it over his head. When he kneels up, Kai holds his body in place to plant a soft kiss into the planes of Jongin’s stomach. Jongin lightly grips his hair when Kai’s lips ghost over his pink nipple. “Kai…” he pants out as Kai drags his mouth up Jongin’s sternum and neck.

This is not fair to Jongin. Jongin is being fooled. Kai is taking advantage of his sightlessness, his curse. If only Jongin knew… He would never even let Kai near him, would he?

“Can you wait a little longer?” Kai asks in a breathy whisper, brushing his lips along Jongin’s jawline.

“What?”

“Until we get to the Cascade of Signum,” he says, curling his arms around Jongin’s body.

“No.”

Kai arches a brow. “No?”

“No. You’ll change your mind by the time we get there.” Jongin scowls and pouts his pink lips.

Kai chuckles. “You’re a little stubborn, don’t you think?”

“If you don’t do it now, I swear to the Lord, I’m going to die.”

That surprises a laugh out of Kai. He kisses Jongin’s mouth and smiles faintly when he sees Jongin’s eyes screwed shut. “I promise you,” he breathes into Jongin’s lips and kisses the skin beneath Jongin’s lower lip. It’s a little rough with stubble there. “I will do whatever you want me to do right after we reach the Signum.”

“That will take ages!”

“Darn it. Do you know how attractive you are when you’re being perseveringly dogged like this? Stubborn as a mule.”

Jongin grins. “Did you just call me a mule?”

“Are you going to decollate me?” Kai slides his hands down to Jongin’s rear. Jongin curls his lower lip between his teeth. “Until we reach the Signum.”

Jongin finally sighs. “Cross your heart?”

Kai smirks and kisses the left side of Jongin’s chest. “Cross my heart.”


	22. Chapter 22

“Here,” Kai presses the stalk of comely pink flowers in Jongin’s hand. Jongin takes a long whiff of the flowers and smiles.

“They smell so good,” Jongin mumbles, brushing the pink flowers against his nose.

“They’re Sweet Peas,” Kai informs him while bending low to pick another sort of flower. It has a blended hue of pink and yellow, and it smells deliriously pleasant. Jongin already has a bunch of wildflowers in his hands and a crown made of various blue, purple and pink flowers around his head. Kai had taken his sweet time making the flower crown for Jongin as the Prince sat restlessly in Kai’s lap with his back pressed against Kai’s chest. Now, as they head back to the meadow, Kai plucks every good flower he sees on the path and delivers them to Jongin. Since the Prince’s hands are full, Kai slips the flower behind Jongin’s ear. Jongin flinches and then smiles gently. He is literally covered in flowers and Kai helplessly adores him more than he should with a vague, mild pain in his chest.

Jongin had been unbelievably impatient while Kai was making him the flower crown, when Kai was the one who had clumsy rough, ungentle fingers with the entire weight of Jongin settled in his lap. He kept bouncing, shifting, leaning back so that Kai can kiss the nape of his neck every once in a while. It was almost a pain to tie the leaves and stalks into knots, but he did it anyway.

Because his Prince deserves a crown.

Kai picks a couple of tiny violet flowers and sticks them behind Jongin’s other free ear. “You look beautiful now,” he whispers, taking Jongin by the waist and gently presses him against the tree behind Jongin.

The confused farrago of the flowers washes Jongin’s body with their intoxicating fragrances. He smells like a heap of clouds and roses. Only five times better.

Jongin holds the flowers between their chests with a shy, mind-numbingly bashful grin that rots Kai’s soul with its sweetness. Kai leans in and pecks on Jongin’s alluring lips. Flowers and their petals are stuck between the strands of Jongin’s hair. Kai knows when they return, this chaste, pure intimacy between them would be lost forever. Hell, it’ll vanish as soon as Jongin’s curse is washed away. And for obvious reasons, Kai doesn’t even want to take Jongin to the Cascade anymore.

A soft giggle and a moan escape Jongin’s lips as Kai peppers his cheeks and forehead with gentle kisses, keeping his hands firmly attached to Jongin’s hips. “Ah…” Jongin whimpers, eyes clamped close. Kai’s warm lips scrape the side of Jongin’s neck before he reclaims Jongin’s mouth. He allows Jongin to kiss him back comfortably and Jongin’s raw, inexperienced lips experimentally skim over Kai’s lower lip. Then cupping a side of Jongin’s jaw, Kai presses into the kiss, which fills his head with stupid, amazing gratification and lust.

However, he breaks the kiss and Jongin leans forward, chasing for more. Kai presses a thumb to Jongin’s lips and lets out a trembling breath. “God, I want you so bad,” he whispers, keeping his eyes closed.

“You _have_ me,” Jongin breathes out, his lips brushing Kai’s thumb. “Take me.”

Kai’s eyes flutter open and his heart melts. He kisses the tip of Jongin’s nose and pins their foreheads together. “After the Cascade. I promise.”

“Kai,” the Prince murmurs. “If you think I’ll leave you and change my mind after _seeing_ you, you’re wrong.”

“Good. Because Hell, I want to be so wrong.” He rams his mouth against Jongin’s again and pulls him into a feverous kiss.

“How ugly are you?” Jongin laughs into the kiss and Kai scowls at him.

“I have a pig snout and the eyes of a ghoul’s.”

Jongin giggles the most amazing laugh. “I still think you’d look handsome.”

Kai could hardly take Jongin seriously in the flower crown with flowers stuck behind his ears and in his hair, but his heart swells painfully every time he realizes Jongin _wants_ this. He wants all of this. He doesn’t want to own a kingdom or have all the riches. The littlest, simplest things make him the happiest.

“Do you want to be the King, Jongin?” Kai asks as Jongin rests his head against his shoulder.

“No,” Jongin whispers. “I just want to live here… among flowers, in the forest, with you.”

Kai leans his cheek against Jongin’s flowery hair. “But the Kingdom needs you.”

“I know,” he sighs. “But I would do anything just to… be happy for once.”

“You deserve all the happiness in the world.”

“Apparently the world doesn’t think so,” he scoffs and Kai wraps his arms tighter around Jongin’s lithe, fragile body. “Will this last, Kai? Promise me that this will last.”

Kai couldn’t bring himself to make that promise. He clenches his eyes and whispers into Jongin’s ear, “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure it will last.”

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

He knows that look on his friends’ faces all too well, but he doesn’t make a remark on it. The Flower Faeries clear the path through the meadow for the horses to pass through as they wave Jongin goodbye. Kai doesn’t really know what Jongin had done to earn their unwavering trust and adoration, but it seems like they’ve taken quite a liking in him.

“Did the Faeries give him the coronet?” Yixing asks when they are back in the forest, following Kai’s lead, noticing the flower crown worn by Jongin. Kai keeps a keen eye on the north star as the Pythoness had advised him to follow it. It’s wondrous how the star still faintly glimmers even in the daylight. Wondrously enough, the moon is also visible and it’s almost high noon. Kai frowns at that. It’s a rather unusual occurring and he is not sure if his friends have noticed it.

“No, Kai made it for me,” Jongin says, sitting as closely as he could behind Kai on Sylvaticus. Kai almost chokes as he glances to Yixing and Kris who are respectively gaping and gawking at him.

“He… that brute… that total _radge_ made you a coronet of _flowers_?!” Kris gasps and Jongin laughs.

“Yes, he in fact did.”

“Whoa, it’s definitely the end times. Has he been possessed by some jolly spirit?” Yixing asks, looking genuinely surprised. “A flower coronet?! Kai?!”

“Is it really that surprising?” Jongin mutters and his breath tickles the back of Kai’s neck.

“A cat once ran away like it had stepped on hot magma when Kai tried to stroke it with his hands.”

Kai grimly scowls at Yixing before saying, “Yixing, seriously. If you want me to make you a flower coronet too, you just have to ask.”

Kris and Jongin laugh before Yixing smirks. “I’d fancy myself one actually. I think I’d look charming in it. Jongin, lend it—”

“No!” Kai snaps. “That’s his.”

An eerie silence follows as Yixing arches an eyebrow at Kai. “All right, calm your bollocks,” he mumbles. “Blue isn’t my colour anyway.”

Kai feels Jongin’s arms tighten around him.

“Hey,” Kris says after a moment. “Have you guys realized. It’s the second moon.”

Kai blinks at him and gazes up into the sky.

“Oh, darn it, is it that time of the year already?” Yixing whines. “The moon is brighter than the sun!”

“We might be welcoming the winter solstice sooner this year, it seems,” Kris shrugs, but Kai couldn’t take his eyes off the moon, although the bright blue sky is stinging his eyes.

Of course, how could it have slipped his mind? He noticed how bright the moon was last night, brighter than full moons usually are. He had forgotten the winter solstice is around the corner. As the winds grow stronger and bitterer, the moon starts lingering longer. They call these moons that shine bright during the day the second moon.

Kai drops his gaze back to the horizon when Sylvaticus whinnies and jerks to a stop. The two ivory horses follow suit. Mouths fall gaping as their eyes fall on the barren land before them. Not a single stalk of grass furnish the sandy ground. Kai has only heard of this part of the forest and has never actually been here. They must be getting closer to the Cascade of Signum.

“What now?” Kris groans, staring at the flowing sand. It’s like a river they need to cross. Only that there is sand instead of water and although they are light enough to walk across, the horses are heavy and they will definitely sink.

“What is it?” Jongin asks.

“It’s another Hell-On-Earth,” Kris informs him. “What is it called again? The Bourn of Fall? I don’t know. We’ve heard one can sink into the sand if the weight they carry is too much.”

Kai wants to rub his temples, but his hands are frozen around the reins of his horse. They just need to cross the small stream of sand, however he isn’t sure they could do it without drowning into the sand. “We’ll have to go around,” he says at last.

“God knows how long that might take.”

“We don’t really have much of an option. We can’t really abandon the horses here.”

“Yes, we can. We’ll have to.”

Kai lets out an exasperated breath. Even if they do go around the sand stream, he isn’t convinced he’ll be able to follow the north star and actually reach the Cascade. This must be the only way and they can’t really afford to wander blindly in this part of the forest, which none of them is much acquainted with.

Kai dismounts his horse. “One of us should stay back with the horses,” he says.

Yixing raises his hand. “I’ll stay.”

“Of course, you would,” Kris scoffs. “I’ll go with you.”

Kai helps Jongin hop off the horse and grabs his bow and arrow quiver along with the map, just in case. “We’re going to have to cross the sand one by one.”

“I can go first,” Kris offers.

Kai nods and looks to Jongin, frowning. “Hold on,” he fishes the ropes from the satchel and hands one of them to Kris. “Here,” he presses the other end of the rope in Jongin’s hand. “To guide him. I’ll follow after him.”


	23. Chapter 23

Kai waits all keyed up and disgruntled as he restlessly watches Jongin cross the Bourn of Fall, slowly dragging his feet through the sand while keeping his grip on the rope, which Kris holds onto on the other side of the sand bourn. Jongin takes slow, steady steps and Kai shudders every time he takes a step. Only when Kris grabs Jongin’s hand and pulls him up the bank Kai breathes again. He looks up to the sky, letting out a sigh of relief and glares at the second moon, which sends a disturbing jolt down his spine. Shaking the jitters away, Kai turns to Yixing. “We’ll have to come back this way. I don’t think the Cascade far away.”

Yixing nods his head, patting Sylvaticus’ nose. “I’ll be here.”

Kai bites his lip and tightens the arrow quiver around his back before he descends down the bank of the bourn. His feet sinks into the sand, but he is still able to stand as the sand rises to his shin. He drags his feet forward with his heart pounding in his throat. He tries to not think too much about the _‘what if’_ situation as he takes careful steps. He keeps his eyes on Jongin, who is clinging onto Kris’ arm with the flowers on his crown around his head withering to the heat of the noon sun. There is concern on Jongin’s frown and Kai knows he’s holding onto Kris’ arm out of fearful apprehension and anxiety. He’s worried for Kai, although his blind eyes are staring elsewhere. Kai’s heart blooms all over again. He keeps trying to avoid facing his feelings and whatever that feels for Jongin, but it’s about time he admitted to them. He doesn’t care if this is what they call love, he doesn’t care whether this is wrong or right. He bloody doesn’t care if it’s the worst thing in the world. He wants Jongin to be whatever that his heart wants him to be. Seems like an odd place to decide and confess that, but he wants to stand determine hereon—to not to give up on Jongin until Jongin voluntarily orders him to stay away from him. Which is likely to happen when he is made aware of Kai’s true identity.

Kai accepts Kris’ hand and climbs out of the sand stream with no sand particles stuck on his boots. It’s magickal, really. No sand ever leaves the Bourn of Fall, he’s heard. “Kai?” Jongin rasps out, raising a hand and blindly searches for Kai.

Catching the Prince’s hand, Kai smiles, although Jongin won’t be able to see it. “I’m here.”

Jongin laces their fingers together as the unease is finally smothered by a smile. Kai swallows when Jongin doesn’t let go of his hand and glances to Kris who is cocking an eyebrow at him while rolling the rope up. Then waving Yixing goodbye, they set forth into the forest.

“Let me see the map,” Kris says and Kai hands it to him. “Are you sure this is the way?”

“The Bourn of Fall is on the map. Which means the next destination is the Cascade.”

Kris scrutinizes the map. “But if we had followed the map, it would have taken us more days. We would have come across the Crystal Caves and Terrible Gurney.”

Kai falls silent with his fingers tightening around Jongin’s. It’s amazing how Jongin simply trusts Kai to lead the way and hasn’t questioned anything about the path they’re taking, all because he believes in Kai. For his own selfish reasons, Kai doesn’t ever want to let go of Jongin’s hand.

“Kai?” Kris calls again, sounding rather vexed.

Then heaving a loud sigh, Kai shrugs. “Fine. Okay, fine. I met the Pythoness.”

“I knew it!” Kris cries and Jongin silently gasps beside Kai.

“You did?” Jongin inquires in a whisper.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Kai mumbles under his breath and flinches when Kris shoves him by the shoulder.

“Wasn’t a big deal?! You met the infamous Pythoness! What did you ask for?” the taller man wails.

“Only the pathway to the Cascade of Signum. Nothing more.”

“You have got to be kidding me. You could have asked her anything.”

“Yes. And at that moment, I only wanted to know how to get around the mountain.”

Kris grumbles. “Darn it. You could have told me and Yixing.”

“And you guys would have marched in there and given the Pythoness a good run for her money. She would have cursed you guys.”

That makes Jongin giggle quietly.

“Well… yeah, I guess,” Kris sighs. “We’re going back there when we return! I have to see her. What did she look like?!”

And that goes on for hours.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

By the time the sun sinks down, they decide to rest their spines and worn out legs. There isn’t any fancy or comfortable option, so they settle for whatever the forest provides them with. The moon shines the brightest tonight, illuminating every leaf, every bark. As Kris rests his head on the bundled rope, Jongin and Kai take their seat on the grass, leaning against a thick tree trunk.

A heavy breath escapes Kris mouth then. “I have to meet the Pythoness,” he says. “She sounds… enchanting.”

If Kai didn’t know any better, he would have thought Kris is madly in love with the Pythoness just by listening to the description of her beguiling and out-of-the-world appearance. “She’s half snake,” Kai forewarns him for the nth time.

“That makes her all the more disarming and ravishing.”

Kai sees Jongin smile, so he smiles, too. Lord, what is wrong with him? Kai wants to slap himself. Just being in the presence of Jongin makes him happy. How did he even turn into this much of a soppy idiot?

When Kris starts humming a familiar lazy tune with an arm draped over his eyes, Jongin leans his head on Kai’s shoulder and slips his hand into Kai’s palm. Eventually, the humming fades into silence and a craggy snore replaces the tune.

Kai’s hand turns clammy against Jongin and he gnaws on his bottom lip, wondering about what’s running in Jongin’s head right now as they sit so close together, hand-in-hand, sharing each other’s warmth. Never mind what’s running in Jongin’s head, what about all the overwhelming lewd, obscene stuff that’s pervading his thoughts. Jongin has taken the wilted flower crown off and Kai already wants to make him a new one. Perhaps tomorrow, but he will definitely become the victim of Kris’ insufferable taunts for doing that.

Kai nuzzles his nose into Jongin’s hair at an attempt to kiss his forehead. He likes how pleasant Jongin’s hair smells, despite having travelled through the forest for weeks without a proper shower. Well, he supposes a prince would be a prince no matter what. Kai is also practically a prince, but he wasn’t brought up with the princely quirk and mannerisms as Jongin was. Even the thought of being a Prince of Servanya flips Kai’s stomach. What happens when they return? He couldn’t just forget about everything or the fact that his mother is the Queen, although the woman would most certainly want Kai nowhere near her or Jongin again. The Pythoness had called him _her King_ … What does that even mean? How is it even possible? Kai doesn’t even want to be the King! But if he were, would he be closer to Jongin?

He knows the answer to that all too well. He’s just surprised it had never crossed his mind before. Oh, bollocks. How on earth would he even become King? No one would even believe he’s the Queen’s firstborn even if he shares a striking resemblance with the Crown Prince of Servanya.

_“The Prince will meet his death and you shall reign all of Servanya…”_

The Pythoness’ words suddenly ring in his ears. That won’t happen, Kai convinces himself. Should anything ever happen to Jongin, Kai would never even return, let alone _reign all of Servanya_.

It comforts him a little. The Pythoness will be wrong.

He raises a hand to stroke Jongin’s hair and that is when Jongin stirs, lowering his head to nestle it in Kai’s lap. He stretches out on the ground with his head resting safely in Kai’s lap. He’s already half asleep. Kai smiles down at him, biting his lip and cards his fingers through Jongin’s hair. Would Jongin like it if Kai told him he… loves him? The word burns even to think it. But it’s a slow burn that brings more pleasure than pain. Kai wants to tell Jongin. Maybe tomorrow.

For now, he lets Jongin sleep.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

A brushstroke sensation wakes Kai up. He’s been feeling something tickle his neck and collarbones for a while now. Fully aware of the heat and scent of Jongin’s skin pressed against his own, Kai smiles without bothering to open his eyes. It’s morning, it registers to him. The sunlight is dancing in red behind his closed eyelids. Jongin is tracing every scar on Kai’s neck, collarbones and chest, which is exposed by the unlaced shirt, with his fingertips and marking every scar he finds with a brush of his lips. When Jongin’s fingers caress the scar on the side of Kai’s jaw, Kai flutters his eyes open and smiles, though Jongin doesn’t see it.

He places a soft kiss on the scar on his jaw and drags his fingers along the jawline. “I have one on my lips, if you don’t mind,” Kai whispers and Jongin flinches back, blinking wildly.

“You’re up.”

“You’re kissing all over my face. Of course, I’m up,” Kai keeps his voice as low as possible. Kris is still asleep. A shy smile forms on Jongin’s pink, plush lips and Kai couldn’t help it. He sees a chance and he has to take it. He cups Jongin’s face and presses their lips together. The kiss is innocent and languid than the other kisses they had shared, but it leaves Kai just as breathless.

When Jongin pulls away with a pair of flushed cheeks, Kai tries to stand up. He had fallen asleep in a sitting position with his back slumped against the tree and now, his muscles are screaming in agony. He stretches his arms over his head and pops some joints.

“Oi,” he says, strutting over to Kris and gives his friend’s ankle a gentle kick. Kris rouses immediately and springs upright.

“Where are we?!” he yelps and Kai rolls his eyes.

“Come on, mate,” Kai extends a hand and Kris takes it, rising to his feet. “We ought to get going. I don’t think we’ll find any food here. So we’re going to have to starve for a while.”

“Blimey,” Kris yawns. “I’m bushed.”

“So am I,” he sighs, patting on Kris’ shoulder. “Let’s get moving.”

It takes them a moment to start in the direction of the north star again, but as soon as they are on track, Jongin latches to Kai’s arm. Rather endearingly. Kris notices the intimacy between them again and shoots Kai a knowing look. Kai can only hope Kris thinks of it as some sort of brotherly love.

When a tiring stretch of time passes, the sun scorches them with its heat and Kris furiously glances up to the sky. “Gah! As if the sun alone isn’t enough and there’s the second, second moon!”

Kai doesn’t pay much attention to him as his entire concentration is on Jongin who’s drawing some sort of patterns on Kai’s palm with his forefinger. He assumes they are letters and makes out some of them right. Jongin giggles softly every time he finishes writing a word.

**_IS KRIS LOOKING?_ **

Kai glances to Kris who’s walking way ahead of them. He whispers a “no” to Jongin. Then Jongin pulls Kai’s hand up to his face and plants a kiss in Kai’s rough palm. It feels as though a snowflake had fallen against a thorn.

“I love your how your hands feel,” Jongin mutters quietly and Kai’s heart swells. “Rough and all.”

God, it takes Kai all of his willpower to not to shove Jongin up a tree right this instant and kiss the living daylights out of him.

The sunlight dims and fades away when a lump of fat, grey clouds drift over it. Kai blinks at the dark sky. Darn it, is it going to rain?

His stomach knots when Kris comes to a stop to a ruffling noise and shouts, “Kai!”

Kai jerks his hand free from Jongin’s grip and draws his sword out, which is bound to be a mistake. He should have gone for his bow and arrows.

Everything that follows fazes Kai completely. Greyish, green ghouls land on the ground, falling from the tree branches with long, sharp claws and teeth. Many of them are carrying boulders and rocks. Kris doesn’t hesitate for a second when he slashes his sword through a ghoul that attacks him while Kai curls an arm around Jongin.

His blood runs cold and his body freezes. There’s just so many of them. “Kai?” Jongin whimpers and Kai swings his sword to ward off a ghoul that is snarling at him, all but ready to attack him.

“Run! Kai, run!” Kris squawks and Kai grabs hold of Jongin’s hand before he breaks into a sprint.

But it is a futile attempt. A ghoul pounces on his back and its long claws slices across Kai’s neck. And at that moment, releasing Jongin’s hand is the worst decision he has ever made.

Struggling with the ghoul choking him and another running in his direction with a huge rock, Kai reaches back and grabs the back of the ghoul’s bony neck. He yanks the ghoul forward and when the dark creature has crashed on the ground before him, Kai drives the sword into its chest.

“Kai!” he hears Jongin’s cry, but he couldn’t turn to him when another screaming ghoul climbs on his back, slashing it with its claws. He jumps, barely dodging the boulder that is thrown in his way and rams his back against a tree to bang the ghoul on it. As soon as the ghoul screeches and releases his neck, Kai spins around and beheads it.

Another boulder strikes his legs when a ghoul dashes in his direction, yowling wildly. Kai crashes the ground and staggers back to his feet before he strikes his sword across the ghoul’s neck.

“Oh, my God, Jongin!” Kai hears Kris wail as he struggles to chop the ghouls that attack him down. He is sprinting towards the ghouls and only then does Kai realize Jongin is the one being attacked.

That instant, perhaps he feels as though his heart has been ripped out, he doesn’t stop. He mercilessly mows down every ghoul in his path and recklessly dodges the boulders as he runs towards Jongin who is crying and screaming before the cry entirely dies.

Sunlight reaches the ground again as the sky clears. Within mere seconds, the ghouls shriek an ear-deafening howl before they scurry away for the shelter of the shadows. But Kai doesn’t stop. He chases after them and slays every ghoul he could before they all scurry away.

Then turning on his heel, he races back to Kris and Jongin. His feet give up and he ceases to a stop as his eyes bulge out and bile climbs up his throat. Jongin’s body is lying motionless on the ground with a boulder lying right next to his head. There is blood oozing from his lower body and legs. The metallic red liquid is also exuding from the side of Jongin’s head.

Kris drops his sword and brings his trembling hands to Jongin’s shoulders. “Jong… in?” he scoops Jongin up into his lap and cradles Jongin’s head in his arms. “No… Kai,” he looks up at Kai with bloodshot eyes. “Kai! He’s not breathing!”

That’s when Kai collapses to his knees, unable to take his eyes from Jongin’s peaceful, serene, bluing face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A'right. We're close to the end :'(


	24. Chapter 24

The agony is strangling his veins, overwhelming his breaths and senses. His body refuses him any sort of comfort or solace and he couldn’t fight the sobs that choke his throat. As he is unable to find his voice, he couldn’t scream, he couldn’t cry. He can only stand amid a cruel ocean of numbness, waiting for the pain to pass, but it doesn’t. It worsens with time and soon, Kai is lost in the surging sorrow. It is nothing like he has ever experienced, hence he couldn’t quite put his finger on what is wrong with his body. Everything is wrong right now. Everything hurts. Even the air he tries to breathe in poisons him in so many ways, piercing through his soul as though to rip it into pieces. Fear, grief and everything Kai has never felt before numb and maim him to the extent he can no longer regain the control over his mental faculties.

The pain is so real. His tight chest makes it impossible for him to breathe. It feels as though a piece of crystal glass had slipped from his hands and had shattered. He had let go of his most priceless treasure and it all befalls him.

There is no room for guilt in the pain he’s suffocating in, but it is lurking, waiting for the moment to strike. Soon, there is just numbness and Kai gives in.

The tears that are flowing down his cheeks uncontrollably sting more than they should. He doesn’t move an inch or fight the tears. He doesn’t harbour the strength to fight the sorrow anymore.

The sun is beginning to set and Kris still holds the Prince’s cold corse in his arms, cradling his head as Kai remains stiff and still, leaned back against a tree. He couldn’t even muster the courage to look to them after a moment. He feels like a void of misery, hollow and dark, and the great dolour only heightens with every expelled breath.

“Kai,” Kris mutters when idle hours has passed between them. “It’s getting darker. The ghouls will come back.” There is grief and anguish in Kris’ voice, too. But Kai doubts he feels the same pain that is murdering him from the inside, stabbing his heart again and again, tirelessly.

Without raising his head or glancing to his companion, Kai lets the tears spill. “It’s my fault,” the words roll out of his mouth in a struggled whisper.

“What?”

Kai clenches his eyes shut and leans his head back against the tree. “It’s… my fault.”

It takes Kris a moment to reply. “No… Kai, it isn’t your fault.”

“It is,” he pounds his head back on the tree. “It is. It’s my fault. I turned my back on him for one minute and…” he trails off, unable to believe that a life was just torn away from a body in the matter of seconds. Jongin… the purest soul, the kindest man Kai has ever had the grace of coming across. It’s an accident. He couldn’t be dead. “The Pythoness… and a hag warned me that… this would happen. But the Pythoness said that it’ll happen in four moons! Not four days!” he ends with a pant and a sob.

“The Pythoness… warned you so?” Kris sounds like he’s reassuring himself. “Sweet Lord, Kai. It’s almost the winter solstice. Don’t you know we count the second moons? It’s the second, second moon.”

Kai blinks his watery eyes, not even wanting to interpret what Kris had said. He wants the pain to stop. He wants the numbness to just give him a moment to breathe peacefully. But he doesn’t deserve it. He doesn’t deserve any form of comfort. He deserves to rot in Hell.

“How can he be dead? It’s… it’s not supposed to be like this. I averted my attention from him for a second!” Kai cries, jolting up to his feet and finally faces the horror. Jongin’s dead, lifeless, greying corse, smothered in dried blood. It feels like it was only a moment ago when Jongin was smiling at him and his kiss mark hasn’t even faded from Kai’s palm. “It’s so… sudden,” he lets out, dragging his feet to Kris who has Jongin’s head rested on his lap. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to… end. I promised. I promised to protect him with my life! I fucking failed! I let this happen! I was the one who killed him!”

“Stop it, Kai!” Kris gently lays Jongin back on the ground and rises to his feet. “None of this is your fault. We tried our best and we cannot stop the inevitable. You said the Pythoness foresaw this. Then, there couldn’t have been anything that you could have done!”

“Except there was, Kris. The hag at Watergayte warned me. She told me! I just brushed it all off,” he grunts with a mild pound in his head. “She said I’ll carry his corse in my arms and that my… warmth will be buried with his…” he pauses for a second and blinks. “Death.”

“Kai?”

Shaking his head, Kai stares at Kris for a moment. “Warmth will be buried.”

“What are you talking about?” Kris frowns. “It’s getting darker and darker. We should return.”

“No,” Kai spits. “No.” He looks to Jongin’s unmoving body on the ground and drops to one knee. He inspects Jongin’s peaceful face. His heart wails in brutal agony. Closing his eyes for a beat, he sucks in a shaky breath. When his eyes flutter open, he cups the sides of Jongin’s face and holds it close to his chest. A bead of tear trickles down the corner of his eye as he rocks with Jongin’s head nestled into his chest where his heart still beats. _He is the anchor to his brother’s soul._

“We’re going to the Cascade,” Kai exhales in a breath, fixing Kris a determined look.

“What? What for?”

“Because that’s what we came for.” He gathers Jongin in his arms and rises to his feet.

“Kai. That would be futile.” Kris says, frowning deeper with swollen red eyes. Jongin’s body is cold against Kai’s arms and chest.

“I have to go.” He starts walking in the direction of the north star.

“Wait, are you barking mad? Do you seriously think the Signum can bring him back to life?!”

“I have to at least try,” he keeps his voice low, as he’s careful not to wake Jongin up. He glances down at Jongin and lets a tear drop to Jongin’s cheek.

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“No one has ever found the Cascade and lived to tell the tales since the olden times. It’s called the waterfall of miracles,” Kai says blatantly. “And I need a miracle.”

Kris falls silent as he gapes at Kai for a long moment. Then he says, “And if it doesn’t help?”

Kai couldn’t bring himself to answer that question. Right now, he’s found a hope and he is going to hold onto it as though his life depends on it.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

The deafening roar of the water fills the evening, reaching to the glimmering stars up above. The clear, white torrent cascading down the rock-strewn outcrops mocks the radiance of the wretched moon that gloats its glory embedded to the bright, black sky. The beautiful and brutal force of water calms at the bottom, flooding an out-of-this-world pool. It’s glorious and breath-taking to say the least. The majestic flowing curtain of water streams over a series of rock steps and a sonorous blend of flowers and ferns adorn the waterfall. Lotuses, Blue Pickerel Weeds, Marsh Marigolds, Fairy Moss float around the shoreline. It’s beautiful.

They never would have made it here had it not been for their prior experiences. They never would have made it here if it weren’t for the help they had gotten along the way. And yet, Jongin lays dead and cold in Kai’s numbed arms.

“Oh, my God,” Kris breathes out with an awestruck hint in his tone. “It’s… real.”

Kai takes it all in for a moment before he swallows and looks to his baffled friend. “We made it.”

Kris’ sombre gaze offers its apology. “We made it,” he echoes in a sigh and tries to smile, but his eyes falls on Jongin’s stiffening body. “I hope this works.”

Kai lets out a heavy breath and descends down the rocks with Jongin’s weight in his arms. The water is cold when Kai sinks his booted feet in it. He drags his feet further toward the flowing cascade, careful not to let the ripples touch Jongin just yet. When he is close enough, the water stands up to his waist, cooling his heat, _burying his warmth_. Kai parts his lips to pant for air as his heart starts to hammer against his chest.

He looks down to Jongin and presses their foreheads together before he lightly brushes his lips on the tip of Jongin’s cold nose. It hurts so bad.

He straightens up and shuts his eyes tight. Without hesitating any further, he bends his knees and sinks into the water along with Jongin. Completely submerged underwater, Kai opens his eyes and presses his lips to Jongin’s stiff ones. _Please, please, please._

The kiss is bittersweet, leaving him with more pain than ever. He holds Jongin tight in his arms, against his chest and kisses him harder underwater. _Please, Jongin._ _Don’t leave me._

Right when he has run out of breath, he surfaces again and slowly raises Jongin out of the water. He pants and sobs for air, but he doesn’t move as he keeps his eyes fixed on Jongin’s face.

“Kai,” Kris’ gasp grasps Kai’s attention momentarily and he looks back to his friend who is gawking at him. “Your… hair. It’s… dark again.”

Kai blinks at Kris, wide-eyed and shudders as though he is daggered out of the sudden when he hears a loud choking gasp and a cough before there’s a startling jump in his arms. A frantic hand reaches up and clenches Kai’s soaked shirt by the chest as the gasps continue. Jongin’s eyes fly open, fully black and white and he stirs in a frenzy.

“Jongin!” Kai cries as Jongin’s hands desperately climb up to Kai’s shoulder for support.

“Kai! Kai!” Jongin rasps, clinging onto Kai’s neck and he pants for air.

“Fuck, Jongin, fuck! Oh, my God!” Kai pulls his arm away from Jongin’s legs and lets Jongin’s lower body fall into the water as he grapples his arms around Jongin’s body. He doesn’t know if he’s the one who’s crying or if it’s Jongin, maybe it’s the both of them, but the sobbing doesn’t stop. Their arms brutally crush one another’s bodies and Jongin’s fingers clench around Kai’s hair at the back of his head. “I love you, Jongin. I fucking love you. Don’t ever ask me to leave you and don’t ever fucking leave me again!” he cries into the fierce and violent embrace. Jongin’s warmth returns as he cries into the crook of Kai’s neck, shedding hot tears. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

They stay that way for a moment, relishing every heartbeat and touch. Jongin furiously sobs against Kai’s neck, holding onto him as if he never wants to let go of Kai again.

When they have caught their respective breaths and have calmed, Kai loosens his grip around Jongin’s body and lets the boy pull away, just a little. Jongin blinks his eyes as if to clear his vision and only then does it occur to Kai. “Jongin?” he calls in a very low whisper and Jongin opens his eyes as wide as they could go.

No word comes out of Jongin’s lips as he stares at Kai in something like horror and it pains Kai. They don’t move. But Jongin slowly retracts his arms from Kai’s shoulders with a perplexed expression crossing his face. “Wh… what is this?” he breathes out, eyebrows furrowing into a frown as he slowly retreats from Kai. And that hurts even more.

Kai heaves a sigh, dropping his gaze for a moment. “Jongin…”

“I don’t… understand,” Jongin pants out, now looking at Kai in disgust. “Who… are… you?”

Kai licks his lips with his heart screaming inside his chest like it’s been stabbed a million times. “This is what I wanted to tell you. I’m you…” he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He swallows and his own spit feels like a fireball. “I’m your… brother, Jongin. Twin… b-brother. Your… _our_ mother hired me… because…” he couldn’t even speak without stammering. “Jongin… I’m… your…” _Brother._ He wants to die.

That instant, Jongin could only gape at Kai in a terrified revulsion. “No… N-no…. It can’t… be.” He closes his eyes and clasps his hands over his face as if to make his eyesight go away. “No! No!” he screams, looking up at Kai again. Tears betray his eyes as he cries aggressively and shoves Kai back by his chest. “How could you?!”


	25. Chapter 25

The pain is supposed to have extinguished, and yet it lingers, slowly devouring him from the inside. Jongin is alive. The Cascade had brought him back to life _and_ had washed the sightless curse away. Everything is real and Jongin is right in front him, breathing, full of colour again and completely disgusted by Kai. He silently stands still behind Jongin’s back as the Prince aimlessly stares into the dark forest with the faint sound of the waterfall playing in the background. Water rivulets drip from their drenched clothes that are stuck on their bodies like a second skin.

Kai wants to edge closer, he wants to take Jongin by the hand and hold him in his embrace, but he knows better than to trigger the Prince in any sort of way at the moment. He couldn’t shoulder the horrified look that Jongin exhibited when Kai revealed the fact that they’re brothers and everything that he should have told Jongin from the start. He does understand Jongin’s plight at the moment, he understands the horrible confusion that Jongin must be going through. And there it tortures him to think that Jongin doesn’t want him to be his comfort right now because all that Kai wants to do is to hold him and tell him that it’s okay. But it is not okay, is it?

Kris had vanished to allow them some privacy, probably having taken the hint when Jongin furiously pulled away from Kai and climbed out of the water with a remorseless misery in his face. Kai had told him everything he’s supposed to and ever since, Jongin has just kept his back turned to him without any other response.

“Jongin,” Kai musters the courage to break the torturous silence. He can tell Jongin doesn’t want to talk to him right now, but Kai couldn’t handle the pain anymore. “Say something,” he whispers, taking a quiet step forward. Jongin is probably trying to get used to having his sight again, but he isn’t particularly looking at anything and just keeps facing the darkness. Kai had even asked him if he’s okay, to which Jongin responded with his silence. “Jongin,” he calls again, this time with so much hurt in his voice. “Please. Say something.”

He hears Jongin suck in an audible breath. “How could you… hide all of that… from me and trick me like this? Have you no heart?” his voice is so quiet that Kai barely hears it, but he does. He hears it all and it wounds his soul permanently. “Was it hysterically funny when I was so pathetic? Did you laugh silently or mock me whenever I told you that I like you?”

Kai loses it. He crosses the remaining distance between them and grabs hold of Jongin’s hand before he spins the boy around. He freezes for a moment when he notices the tears welled up in Jongin’s reddened eyes. “Do you seriously think I’m that scornful of a man?” he growls, gripping Jongin’s wrist. “I did not trick you. I wanted to stay away from you, remember? I was the one who said I can’t do this.”

“You could have bloody told me you’re my brother!” he screams and frantically shoves Kai away as tears broke out. Furiously wiping them away, Jongin noticeably clenches his jaw.

“Your mo… the Queen told me to not to tell you. She was worried that we might… bond if you’d known I’m your brother first-hand. This isn’t like anything that any of us had planned. I get you to the Cascade and then I should have left for Kris and Yixing to take you home. But I couldn’t leave, Jongin. You were lying dead in my arms a moment ago and you have no idea how I was suffering!”

Jongin doesn’t seem compromised as he continues to glower with the tears trickling down his cheeks. “You could have at least told me when I told you I liked you! Why didn’t you tell me? Revenge? For what my… our mother did? To take out your exasperation on me by hurting me in the worst way imaginable?! Or is it that you covet the throne?!”

“Fuck!” Kai snarls and balls his hands into fists. “I would have let you die if any of that had been my intention! I couldn’t tell you, Jongin. Maybe I didn’t _want_ to! Because I fucking wanted you, too! And everything that was beautiful between suddenly seems so repulsive, doesn’t it?”

Jongin buries his face in his hands and begins to sob, gasping for air. Kai closes his eyes to fight off his own tears. “I… don’t even want my sight. Please. Just take it away,” he cries into his palms and Kai looks away, trying to swallow the lump of sob in his throat. He knows Jongin doesn’t mean it. But it must hurt him so much that he’s willing to just be blind.

Kai steps forward and takes Jongin by the arms. “Hey,” he breathes out, cupping the sides of Jongin’s face and lifts it to meet his weeping gaze. “Look. I’m willing to do whatever that you want me to do, Jongin.” He wipes the tears staining Jongin’s cheeks with his thumbs. “If you want me to go away, I will. But don’t ever think that I did any of it because of any ill intentions. I… love you. I’ve just started to love you. And it hurts to think that I need to stop. I’ll try. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I put you in this spot.”

He breaks down completely and melts into Kai’s arms at that instant. Kai wraps his arms around Jongin’s shivering body and lets his brother sob into his chest. “This can’t be happening,” Jongin rasps as his tears wets the already soused shirt. “Please…”

Kai presses his face into Jongin’s damp hair and lets a tear fall. “I… made you a promise. I’ll do whatever you want when we reach the Cascade. What do you want me to do, Jongin?”

Jongin shakes like a leaf against Kai and locks his arms around Kai’s neck. “Make all of this go away. Please, Kai,” he cries silently. “Please.”

Kai draws back and takes hold of Jongin’s face in his hands again. Jongin has his eyes clenched tight as though he couldn’t even bare to look at Kai. His eyelashes are clumped together in tears. Letting out a soft breath, Kai leans in and brushes his lips on Jongin’s eyes, one by one. He licks his lips when he pulls back a little, tasting the salt of Jongin’s tears on them. “Just tell me one thing, Jongin,” he whispers. “Do you still love me?”

It takes Jongin a moment to reply as the tears uncontrollably flows down his face. Then he slowly nods his head. “I can’t… fathom… feeling something I shouldn’t for you. It hurts so terribly.”

“I know. Believe me. I know,” Kai sighs. “Jongin.” He tears the hem of his own shirt and the ripping noise flies Jongin’s open. “Do you want me?”

Jongin doesn’t answer as he closes his eyes again. Kai doesn’t need him to answer. He made a promise and he is going to keep it.

He brings the torn piece of his shirt to Jongin’s face and ties it around his eyes. Jongin lifts his hands to Kai’s chest and clings onto the wet shirt as Kai binds the piece of cloth at the back of Jongin’s head. “Just for tonight, let’s forget ourselves,” he whispers, skimming his lips against Jongin’s ear.

No protest or objection comes from Jongin. Kai gently presses a hand to Jongin’s cheek and the Prince leans into the touch. “Kai…” he lets out in a quivering breath.

“Shh,” Kai seals Jongin’s trembling lips with a meek, sweet kiss. Jongin chases Kai’s lips when Kai breaks the kiss to let him breathe. Kai lets him have them. Jongin’s fists tighten around Kai’s shirt by the chest as he kisses Kai feverously. There’s so much agony and throes in his kiss, but Kai tries to ignore the pain by concentrating on the innocence of this pleasure they drown in. Grabbing a handful of Jongin’s wet hair at the back of his head, Kai cocks his head and kisses him with a harder, more passionate force. Soon, they are tangled in a mess of gasps and obscene wet sounds of their mouths.

Unlacing Jongin’s shirt, Kai bites the Prince’s soft petal gently and tugs at it. The moan that escapes Jongin drives Kai mad for a beat. He suckles the lip and releases it, leaving it red and swollen. Jongin is pulling at Kai’s shirt now and Kai lets him yank it over his head by detaching his lips from Jongin’s for a very short moment before he reclaims those hot, maddening lips. As soon as Kai manages to rip Jongin’s shirt off him, he drags Jongin close and presses the front of their burning damp bodies together until there is no room for even to pass through. Jongin tightly clings onto Kai’s shoulder, digging his nails into skin while smothering Kai’s mouth with an assertive kiss. It only remains forceful for a moment before Jongin entirely surrenders to Kai and falls weak in Kai’s arms that are enveloped around his torso.

Kai steps out of his boots before he hoists Jongin up, wrapping Jongin’s legs around his waist as he carries him to a much grassier ground. Then lying Jongin down on the grass, he kneels between Jongin’s legs and unlaces his own pants. It’s a beautiful sight before him. Jongin is panting with his flawless and unblemished chest heaving. He’s just… _beautiful_. Oh, how Kai wishes he could look into Jongin’s eyes right now. But that would only appal Jongin.

When he has undone the laces of his pants, he leans forward and smashes their mouths together again. Jongin whimpers into the kiss when Kai presses their crotches together. The hardness he feels against his own is delicious and it spins Kai’s head. Jongin wants him just as much. “Jongin,” Kai rasps breathlessly as he drags his lips to Jongin’s neck. Jongin entangles his fingers in Kai’s hair as Kai peppers his neck with brutal, hot kisses.

“Ahh…” Jongin moans when Kai moves his lips to his chest and latches them to his pink, pebbled nipple. Another whimper escapes him as Kai flicks the nipple with his tongue. Jongin’s body slowly arches off the ground with Kai dragging the kisses down his sternum, sucking and licking the upper abdomen. The air is filled with the beautiful noises Jongin is making as Kai kisses along Jongin’s stomach, filling his narrow navel with a deep kiss.

Kai straightens up and swallows, looking at how much of a mess Jongin already is before his eyes. The red marks of Kai’s kisses all over his bronze skin look enchanting under the bright moonlight. Kai wants more. He wants so much more.

When he hooks his fingers into the band of Jongin’s pants, Jongin lets out a breath that drives Kai off his head. He bows his head and kisses along Jongin’s beautiful waistline before he yanks Jongin’s pants and shoes off, stripping the wrecked boy naked. Jongin sucks his stomach in, whining seductively as he grips onto the grass when Kai’s lips devour his abdomen, slowly making their way back to Jongin’s lips. “You’re so beautiful, Jongin,” Kai exhales against his mouth and grinds his hips down on Jongin’s. The raw heat of Jongin’s erected shaft entraps Kai in a delirium of lust. His mouth waters to taste Jongin’s most sensitive parts, teasing them one by one until Jongin comes completely undone. Until he blooms in Kai’s arms.

Kai retreats back down and places a soft kiss on the skin beneath Jongin’s navel. Jongin’s cheeks are burning red and his parted lips are quivering like Kai’s had terrified them. Jongin bites onto his lower lip when Kai kisses the base of his hot, pulsating shaft. He buries his hands in Kai’s hair as Kai draws his wet tongue along the arching member. Kai keeps his gaze fixed on Jongin’s flushed face, latching his mouth around the purple head of the shaft. Jongin’s throat makes a lustful sound and Kai tongues the leaking slit on the head. “Oh, my God,” Jongin gasps, bucking his hips up. Kai holds a hip down and keeps his hand on Jongin’s hipbone as he continues to tease Jongin by tonguing the slit. “Kai… Please…” he pants, sounding as though he might scream.

Kai wraps his lips around the swollen shaft and sinks in. He couldn’t avert his gaze from Jongin’s panting mouth as he sucks the hot erection, all the way to the base. It hardens with Kai’s warm cavern tightening around it and Kai doesn’t want Jongin to reach his climax just yet, so he withdraws. Jongin moans in protest and Kai kisses his hipbone.

When he leans forward again to capture Jongin’s lips with his own, Jongin grapples his legs around Kai’s waist and their bodies are clamped close together. Kai slides his hand along Jongin’s hipbone to the back and softly cups the curvy shape of Jongin’s rear. He grips onto the underside of Jongin’s thigh and kisses him full on mouth, his tongue diving into the kiss. “Won’t you touch me?” Kai murmurs against Jongin’s tongue and almost immediately, Jongin retrieves his hands from the nape of Kai’s necks and draws them down Kai’s chest.

“Let me,” he rasps and vigorously kisses Kai again. Kai yanks his pants down, just to the hipbones and almost sighs in relief when his aching shaft is finally released. Jongin’s hands find their way to Kai’s thick erection and he lets out a moan, wrapping his hands around it. He bucks his hips up again to grind against Kai’s, to give their virile members some friction, but Kai holds his hips down again. Jongin looks like he’s in pain when Kai refuses him. “Please, Kai. I can’t… take it anymore.”

It’s amazing to see how crushed Jongin already is. And Kai hasn’t even done anything yet. The thought of having Jongin in a menacing mess makes Kai so much harder, if it’s even possible. This is all that matters right now. He has Jongin and Jongin has him. That is all that matters tonight. All the anguish and heartaches can wait for tomorrow.

When he slides a hand between Jongin’s thighs, he swallows a sharp gasp from Jongin. “It’ll hurt, Jongin,” Kai warns him in a whisper. “Do you… really want me to…”

“Yes, Kai. Yes, please. Help me forget about everything,” Jongin pleads piteously. “Just for tonight. Make me forget my name.”

Kai crushes Jongin’s lips under his and presses his fingers along the hot crack, gently brushing the puckered rim of muscles. Jongin shudders hard and buries his face in Kai’s collarbones, whimpering weakly. “Relax, Jongin. I need you to…” _trust me._ How could Jongin ever trust him again? Kai trails off with a kiss, brushing their noses together. _I won’t hurt you_. He already has. _I will protect you._ He already let Jongin get hurt. _I love you_. It feels wrong to even tell Jongin that now.

He smears his fingers with his spit before he slides a finger in. He tries to distract Jongin by keeping their mouths busy, but Jongin is squirming and gasping, clawing at Kai’s chest. “Nngh!” he grizzles when Kai starts to finger his opening. He’s tight. Too tight. Kai doesn’t know if Jongin will ever feel good at this rate. His hot insides wrap around Kai’s finger and clench it tight. “Oh, God,” Jongin moans with tears seeping through the blindfold around his eyes.

“Do you… want me to stop?” Kai asks.

“No, no, please, don’t.” He grabs onto the back of Kai’s neck and kisses him. Kai presses his hips down on Jongin’s and starts to grind them together, stroking their hardened shafts against each other. When Jongin calms down, slowly getting used to the feeling of having Kai’s finger inside him, Kai pushes another finger in. This time, Jongin drops his head back on the grass and lets out a strained groan.

Kissing and sucking Jongin’s skin between his collarbones, Kai whispers, “It’ll get better. I promise you.”

Jongin pins his palms to Kai’s back and falls silent, although subtle moans crack from his throat. His fingers trace the long, deep scars on Kai’s back that Kai had gotten from brawling with local mercenaries. Then pressing his lips to Kai’s shoulder, Jongin tries to muffle his scream as Kai starts to scissor his warm, throbbing hole.

“Ah, Kai,” he finally moans out when Kai’s fingers brush his prostate, curling around a bundle of nerves. Jongin locks his ankles at Kai’s back and stabs his fingernails into Kai’s shoulder blades. Kai crooks his fingers and massages the soft, sweet spot and fingers him faster. Jongin cries out a whine when Kai pulls out his fingers.

Spitting on his palm, Kai spreads the saliva all over his hard member, although it won’t be enough to aid Jongin’s pain. He presses the head of his shaft to Jongin’s stretched opening and rubs his slit over the muscle. Kai kisses the side of Jongin’s neck and groans against it. The heat of Jongin’s tight opening around his cockhead suffocates him. He fights the urge to push in all at once and pants laboriously in the crook of Jongin’s neck as he slowly slithers into Jongin.

Jongin sinks his teeth into Kai’s shoulder as they lay in that position, taking comfort in each other’s heat for a moment. “Kai,” Jongin mumbles shakily and Kai raises his head. He starts to gently pull out before he slides back in. By the fifth thrust, Jongin is a moaning, crying mess.

Kai cups the back of Jongin’s head and constantly keeps their mouths engaged except to let Jongin suck in some breaths. All the unspoken words dissipate between them, replaced by the mesmerizing sounds of their lovemaking. This moment, Jongin has given all of him to Kai, surrendering every last one of his weaknesses to become Kai’s strength while all of Kai’s weaknesses and strengths become Jongin’s strength.

He blooms so beautifully in Kai’s arms as Kai withers painfully inside him.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

 

Kai doesn’t dare to move as he rests, collapsed on Jongin’s sweat-slicked body. He’s still buried inside Jongin, covered in the hot thickness of his come. When Jongin pulls the blindfold off, Kai rolls of him, withdrawing out of him and falls onto the grass. They don’t look at each other for minutes until Jongin finally turns and brings a hand to Kai’s chest. Kai glances to him. There is pain in Jongin’s gaze as he pulls his hand along Kai’s sternum. It feels somewhat odd to have Jongin stare right into his eyes.

“This is wrong,” Jongin mutters miserably and nestles his head on Kai’s chest. “This is wrong, Kai.”

“I know,” Kai lets out, carding his fingers through Jongin’s hair.

“I can’t… do this.”

Kai keeps mum.

Then Jongin raises his head and looks to Kai’s eyes again, frowning heavily. “But I want you. I don’t want to go on… without you.”

Kai blinks at him and props himself up on his elbows. “Jongin… you don’t have to.” He cups Jongin’s cheek and presses a kiss to his forehead. “This _is_ wrong. But tell me you found it revulsive when I called your name as you screamed mine while giving all of myself to you, only for _you_ to hold. Was any of it _wrong_ , Jongin?”

Jongin closes his eyes and drops his head onto Kai’s shoulder. “I need some time to think.”

“You’ve all the time you need,” Kai whispers and pulls Jongin back down to lie with him. He knows Jongin wouldn’t be able to move for a while, so he holds Jongin close, sharing his heat, protecting him from the cold. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Whatever that may happen tomorrow, whatever that Jongin may decide upon, Kai is ready to accept it.

 

☬ ☬ ☬

 

When he rouses, Jongin is still wrapped in his arm with his head leaned on his shoulder. Careful not to wake him up, Kai settles Jongin’s head down on the grass and sits up. The night is still rich, although he thinks they have been sleeping for quite some hours. He gathers their clothes from the ground and drapes them over Jongin’s naked, spent and wrecked body. Then after brushing his lips on the tip of Jongin’s nose, he pulls his pants on. He might as well go look for Kris, who must be dying for some explanation. And he deserves one.

As he courses through the woods, keeping in mind to not to wander too far away from Jongin, the chill wind slaps his unclothed back and Kai turns around. Something lurks in the shadows where the moonlight doesn’t touch and Kai grips his fists. He had left his sword, bow and arrows by the Cascade and he curses at himself for it. He starts back to Jongin and comes to an abrupt halt when he hears the mellifluous song that surges from the trees. He freezes.

_“The sightless anathema mightn’t be washed,_

_For the Signum is nothing, but a hogwash,_

_Naught can heal his sight,_

_But your love for him just might._

_Even so, a dead eyesight,_

_Shan’t ever win the fight,_

_A body that doesn’t belong in the daylight,_

_Will do nothing but slowly blight.”_

 

A cackle from the darkness follows.

 

_“The joy mightn’t last,_

_For that his body rots fast,_

_His soul in this world is an outcast,_

_Due to your dead hand of the past._

_Sing your goodbyes,_

_Hitherto he dies,_

_He shall finally return to skies,_

_When the four moons rise._

_But fret you shan’t,_

_A prosperous life and,_

_A beautiful sprog will be your only grant,_

_For this is rightfully your land._

_His dead soul doesn’t belong here. His body will crumble and perish away.”_

 

Then with another whispery laugh, the voice fades into the air.

His knees buckle and he drops to the ground.

 

_Sing your goodbyes,_

_Hitherto he dies,_

_He shall finally return to skies,_

_When the four moons rise._

 

The curse to be continued…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and leaving kudos! Follow me on my ask.fm (exoversal), twitter (samegaygame) and instagram (radianzze). I'm also writing a new story, King's Lost Prince in which Sehun is an assassin and Kai is a brutal king. Check it out :) Thanks again for voting! And let's see if anyone can decode the auguries and guess what's about to happen ;)


	26. SEQUEL

CHECK IT OUT>>>> **[Enchanting Anathema](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7744039) **

The prologue is already up!


	27. Epitome of Hiraeth

_Funny story. I was listening to Yiruma and just wrote this oneshot:_

**→[Epitome of Hiraeth](http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/c5f03d_43f5510275674cfc98fcd2b34fc7be89.pdf) ** **←**

 _I would recommend for you to listen to_ **[this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VslLZcV9ZcU) __ ** _or just "River Flows In You"_ _while you're reading. Come back here to leave your comments or go to my_ **[ask.fm](https://ask.fm/EXOversal) **_:)_

Jongkai is a beautiful ship. Don't let it sink.


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